First Known Use: 15th century
Dictionary
engage
verb en·gage \in-ˈgāj, en-\
: to hire (someone) to perform a particular service : to pay for (help, services, etc.)
: to get and keep (someone's attention, interest, etc.)
: to start fighting against (an opponent) ( formal )
en·gageden·gag·ing
Full Definition of ENGAGE
transitive verb
1
: to offer (as one's word) as security for a debt or cause
2
a obsolete : to entangle or entrap in or as if in a snare or bog b : to attract and hold by influence or power c : to interlock with : mesh; also : to cause (mechanical parts) to mesh <engage the clutch>
3
: to bind (as oneself) to do something; especially : to bind by a pledge to marry
4
5
a : to hold the attention of : engross <her work engages her completely> b : to induce to participate <engaged the shy boy in conversation>
6
a : to enter into contest or battle with <engage the enemy> b : to bring together or interlock (weapons)
7
: to deal with especially at length
intransitive verb
1
a : to pledge oneself : promise b : to make a guarantee <he engages for the honesty of his brother>
2
a : to begin and carry on an enterprise or activity —used with in <engaged in trade for many years> b : to do or take part in something —used with in <engage in healthy activities> <engage in bad conduct> c : to give attention to something : deal <failing to engage with the problem>
3
: to enter into conflict or battle
4
: to come together and interlock <the gears engaged>
See engage defined for English-language learners
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Origin of ENGAGE
Middle English, from Anglo-French engager, from en- + gage pledge, gage
Related to ENGAGE
Rhymes with ENGAGE
engagé
adjective en·ga·gé \ˌäⁿ-ˌgä-ˈzhā\
Definition of ENGAGÉ
: committed to or supportive of a cause
Origin of ENGAGÉ
French, past participle of engager to engage
First Known Use: 1946
Rhymes with ENGAGÉ
Adige, A-OK, alleyway, All Fools' Day, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, all the way, anyway, appliqué, Arbor Day, arrivé, atelier, attaché, back away, ballonet, bang away, Bastille Day, Beaujolais, beta ray, beurre manié, BHA, blow away, botonée, Boxing Day, breakaway, break away, Bristol Bay, bustier, by the way, cabaret, cableway, Camagüey, canapé, cap-a-pie, Cape Cod Bay, caraway, carriageway, cassoulet, castaway, cathode ray, champlevé, chansonnier, chardonnay, Charolais, chevalier, china clay, cloisonné, cog railway, colorway, Condorcet, consommé, coryphée, cosmic ray, croupier, crudités, cutaway, day-to-day, debauchee, déclassé, dégagé, degree-day, delta ray, démodé, devotee, disarray, disobey, distingué, divorcé, divorcée, DNA, dollar day, double play, draw away, dress-down day, eagle ray, eightfold way, émigré, entranceway, entremets, entryway, espalier, everyday, exposé, expressway, fadeaway, fallaway, fall away, faraday, Faraday, faraway, fiancé, fiancée, fill away, fire away, flageolet, flyaway, foldaway, gal Friday, gamma ray, garde-manger, Georgian Bay, getaway, girl Friday, giveaway, give away, gratiné, gratinée, Greenaway, Groundhog Day, guillemet, Harare, hell to pay, Hemingway, hereaway, hideaway, hit the hay, HLA, holiday, holy day, Hornaday, Hudson Bay, Hugh Capet, Humboldt Bay, in a way, inter se, interplay, intraday, IPA, IRA, Ise Bay, judgment day, keep-away, kyrie, Labor Day, lackaday, latter-day, layaway, lay away, lingerie, macramé, Mandalay, manta ray, Massenet, matinee, medal play, meet halfway, MIA, Milky Way, Monterrey, Mother's Day, motorway, muscadet, mystery play, negligee, New Year's Day, New York Bay, Nicolet, night and day, Nottaway, off Broadway, Ojibwa, on the way, out of play, overlay, overplay, overstay, overweigh, Paraguay, passageway, pass away, passion play, pepper spray, Petare, photoplay, pikake, pis aller, play-by-play, plug-and-play, popinjay, potter's clay, pourparler, pousse-café, power play, present-day, protégé, protégée, pull away, put away, Put-in-Bay, Rabelais, rack railway, rainy-day, rambouillet, ratiné, recamier, recherché, reconvey, repartee, repoussé, résumé, retroussé, ricochet, right away, right-of-way, rockaway, roentgen ray, rondelet, roundelay, RNA, runaway, run away, Saguenay, salt away, San Jose, Santa Fe, São Tomé, Saturday, satyr play, semplice, Seventh-Day, severance pay, shadow play, sleepaway, sobriquet, sock away, sommelier, square away, steerageway, standaway, stowaway, straightaway, street railway, Table Bay, taboret, tarsier, taxiway, tearaway, tear away, teleplay, Tenebrae, thataway, throwaway, throw away, Thunder Bay, triple play, turn away, Udine, underlay, underpay, underplay, underway, Uruguay, velouté, Venite, vérité, vertebra, virelay, walkaway, Wang Ching-wei, waterway, wellaway, Whitsunday, workaday, working day, Yenisey, Zuider Zee
ENGAGE Defined for Kids
engage
verb en·gage \in-ˈgāj\
en·gageden·gag·ing
Definition of ENGAGE for Kids
1
: to catch and keep fixed (as someone's attention) <The story engaged my interest.>
2
: to take part in or cause to take part in something <He engages in many school activities.>
3
: to enter into contest or battle with <Soldiers engaged the enemy.>
4
: to arrange for the services or use of : employ <I suggest you engage a lawyer.>
5
: mesh <The gears engaged.>
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