ENGAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does engage mean? 

• ENGAGE (verb)
  The verb ENGAGE has 10 senses:

1. carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in

2. consume all of one's attention or time

3. engage or hire for work

4. ask to represent; of legal counsel

5. give to in marriage

6. get caught

7. carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns)

8. hire for work or assistance

9. engage for service under a term of contract

10. keep engaged

  Familiarity information: ENGAGE used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENGAGE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

engage; prosecute; pursue

Context example:

They engaged in a discussion

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "engage"):

politick (engage in political activities)

close (engage at close quarters)

commit; practice (engage in or perform)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

engagement (the act of sharing in the activities of a group)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Consume all of one's attention or time

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

absorb; engage; engross; occupy

Context example:

Her interest in butterflies absorbs her completely

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

interest (excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "engage"):

involve (occupy or engage the interest of)

consume (engage fully)

rivet (hold (someone's attention))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

They engage themselves
The performance is likely to engage Sue

Sense 3

Meaning:

Engage or hire for work

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

employ; engage; hire

Context example:

How many people has she employed?

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "engage"):

featherbed (hire more workers than are necessary)

fill (appoint someone to (a position or a job))

engage (ask to represent; of legal counsel)

ship (hire for work on a ship)

contract; sign; sign on; sign up (engage by written agreement)

rat (employ scabs or strike breakers in)

farm out; job; subcontract (arranged for contracted work to be done by others)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

engagement (the act of giving someone a job)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Ask to represent; of legal counsel

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

I'm retaining a lawyer

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

employ; engage; hire (engage or hire for work)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Give to in marriage

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

affiance; betroth; engage; plight

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

vow (make a vow; promise)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

engagement (a mutual promise to marry)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Get caught

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

make sure the gear is engaged

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

touch (make physical contact with, come in contact with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "engage"):

lock (become rigid or immoveable)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Antonym:

disengage (become free)

Derivation:

engagement (contact by fitting together)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns)

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

engage; wage

Context example:

Napoleon and Hitler waged war against all of Europe

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

contend; fight; struggle (be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "engage"):

offer; provide; put up (mount or put up)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

engagement (a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Hire for work or assistance

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

engage; enlist

Context example:

engage aid, help, services, or support

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

procure; secure (get by special effort)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "engage"):

recruit (seek to employ)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sense 9

Meaning:

Engage for service under a term of contract

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

charter; engage; hire; lease; rent; take

Context example:

Shall we take a guide in Rome?

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sense 10

Meaning:

Keep engaged

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

engage; lock; mesh; operate

Context example:

engaged the gears

Hypernyms (to "engage" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "engage"):

flip; switch; throw (cause to go on or to be engaged or set in operation)

ride (keep partially engaged by slightly depressing a pedal with the foot)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

disengage (release from something that holds fast, connects, or entangles)

Derivation:

engagement (contact by fitting together)

 Context examples 

She had been engaged to me, and she would have married me, I believe, if I had taken over another profession, but she would have nothing to do with anything on the cross.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch awaited us upon the table.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Thus in the end we may find him in his form of man between the hours of noon and sunset, and so engage with him when he is at his most weak.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Which two mighty powers have, as I was going to tell you, been engaged in a most obstinate war for six-and-thirty moons past.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Lawyers engaged by his people saw to the arrangements.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The area of your chart that will be lit up for you rules curiosity, so you have options to explore if you want to engage your mind with new concepts.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

He got engaged to her when traveling last winter, and she came down to be introduced to his people, with her brother as escort.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My uncle engaged afterwards in more prosperous undertakings: it appears he realised a fortune of twenty thousand pounds.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Just give me the material and I will engage to brand the fellow for ever.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I found, said he, that I was considered by Harville an engaged man!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)