engage
//ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ//
Forms
- present (v1)
- engage
- past (v2)
- engaged
- past participle (v3)
- engaged
- present participle
- engaging
- 3rd person singular
- engages
Definitions
1.To interact socially.
- Shapps refused to engage with the unions and claimed that the industrial disputes were nothing to do with him, despite controlling the purse strings.
2.To interact antagonistically.
3.To interact contractually.
- They were engaged last month! They're planning to have the wedding next year.
- Rich Jews used to engage Christian music-teachers to teach their daughters German vocal and instrumental music.
- For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.
4.To interact mechanically.
- He engaged the lock on the door.
- Whenever I engage the clutch, the car stalls out.
- The teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1298
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Uncommon
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English engagen, from Old French engagier (“to pledge, engage”), from Old French en- (“in, under”) + gage (“pledge”), from Frankish *wadi (“pledge”), from Proto-Germanic *wadją (“pledge, guarantee”), from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“to pledge, redeem a pledge; guarantee, bail”), equivalent to en- + gage.