Dictionary

engage en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/
• (US) audio
• /ɛnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/

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. Cognate with Old English weddian (“to engage, covenant, undertake”), German wetten (“to bet, wager”), Icelandic veðja (“to wager”). More at wed.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To interact socially. ▸ To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied.
   • Thus ſhall mankind his guardian care engage, / The promis'd father of the future age. 1712 (date written), Alexander Pope, “Messiah. A Sacred Eclogue, in Imitation of Virgil’s Pollio.”, in The Works of Alexander Pope Esq. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton, H. Lintot, J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, and S. Draper, published 1751, →OCLC, page 40, lines 55–56:
2. (ambitransitive) To interact socially. ▸ To draw into conversation.
   • Shapps refused to engage with the unions and claimed that the industrial disputes were nothing to do with him, despite controlling the purse strings. 2022 September 21, Christian Wolmar, “Trevelyan must 'give a damn' and engage with the railway”, in RAIL, number 966, page 45:
   • the difficult task of engaging him in conversation 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Introductory”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
3. To interact socially. ▸ To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone).
   • This humanity and good nature engages every body to him, so that when he is pleasant upon any of them all his family are in a good humour, and none so much as the person whom he diverts himself with: […] 1711 July 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, July 2, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 106; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 74:
4. (transitive) To interact antagonistically. ▸ To enter into conflict with (an enemy).
   • 1698-1699, Edmund Ludlow, Memoirs a favourable opportunity of engaging the enemy
   • Having failed to become the first warship to shoot down another planet, the fleet would then engage the Italian cruiser screen the next afternoon, with Sydney not scoring any hits on its opposite numbers but managing to damage an Italian destroyer. 2018 December 12, Drachinifel, 5:45 from the start, in HMAS Sydney - Legendary fights with Angry Australians, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2022:
5. (intransitive) To interact antagonistically. ▸ To enter into battle.
6. (transitive) To interact contractually. ▸ To arrange to employ or use (a worker, a space, etc.).
   • 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. 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Affair at the Novelty Theatre”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
   • Rich Jews used to engage Christian music-teachers to teach their daughters German vocal and instrumental music. 1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 385:
7. (intransitive) To interact contractually. ▸ To guarantee or promise (to do something).
8. (transitive) To interact contractually. ▸ To bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) (usually in passive).
   • They were engaged last month! They're planning to have the wedding next year.
   • […] Love is a ſort of Devotion too, and not only ſhould beget Reſpect, but likevviſe ingage Patience. [1703], Tho[mas] d’Urfey, The Old Mode & the New, or, Country Miss with Her Furbeloe. A Comedy. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott, and sold by Samuel Clark, […], Francis Faucet […], and Lucas Stowkey […], →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:
9. (obsolete, transitive) To interact contractually. ▸ To pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land).
   • Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
10. To interact mechanically. ▸ To mesh or interlock (of machinery, especially a clutch).
    • The Liner train wagon is a simple underframe on bogies, with coned location points that engage recesses in the container bases. 1964 April, G. Freeman Allen, “The BRB shows traders the Liner train prototypes”, in Modern Railways, page 265:
    • Whenever I engage the clutch, the car stalls out.
11. (transitive) To interact mechanically. ▸ To come into gear with.
    • The teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another.
12. (intransitive, transitive) To interact mechanically. ▸ To activate a lock.
    • He engaged the lock on the door.
    • The lock engaged automatically when the door was shut.
13. (obsolete, transitive) To entangle.

Forms

Antonyms

disengage (antonym(s) of “to cause to mesh or interlock”)

Deriveds

re-engage · disengagement · engageable · disengage · unengage · engagement · engager · engage in · preengage · engagor

Synonyms

immerse

Translations (102)

es engranar (to mesh or interlock) · es acoplar (to mesh or interlock) · es sugestionar (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · pl zaangażować (to draw into conversation) · es reñir (intransitive: to enter into battle) · it impegnare (to pledge one's property) · es reñir contra (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · fi luvata (to guarantee or promise to do something) · es enclochar (to mesh or interlock) · sv spänna (to tense one's muscles such as the core) · bg ангажирам (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · hu megszólít (to draw into conversation) · sh upustiti se (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · it convogliare (to attract, to please) · sv förlova (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · ca atreure (to attract, to please) · fi sitoutua (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · io engajar (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · es trabar conversación con (to draw into conversation) · fi ryhtyä taisteluun (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · de anstellen (to draw into conversation) · fr attirer l'attention (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · ca cridar l'atenció (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · es embebecer (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · pt engajar (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · it ingaggiare (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · es encastrar (to mesh or interlock) · sh angažirati (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · it dare la parola (to guarantee or promise to do something) · es enganchar (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · es pugnar contra (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · fi työllistää (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · es endentar (to mesh or interlock) · gd fastaidh (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · it garantire (to guarantee or promise to do something) · fi käyttää (to mesh or interlock) · fi kiehtoa (to attract, to please) · fi hyökätä (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · bg задължавам (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · fi joutua taisteluun (intransitive: to enter into battle) · de angreifen (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · de einrasten (to mesh or interlock) · it impegolarsi (to mesh or interlock) · es trabar batalla contra (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · fi lupautua (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · it attirare (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · sv engagera (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · pt comprometer-se (to guarantee or promise to do something) · da imødegå (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · it fidanzarsi (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · hu leköt (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · fi pantata (to pledge one's property) · fi viedä mielenkiinto (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · fi vuokrata (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · de beschäftigen (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · it ingaggiare (to draw into conversation) · pl angażować (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · pl zaangażować (to attract, to please) · es embragar (to mesh or interlock) · es trabar batalla (intransitive: to enter into battle) · pl angażować (to attract, to please) · it assicurare (to guarantee or promise to do something) · it irretire (to attract, to please) · pl angażować (to draw into conversation) · es entablar combate contra (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · pl zaangażować (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · it ingaggiare (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · fr engager (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · da angribe (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · uk найма́ти (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · fi työllistää (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · es pugnar (intransitive: to enter into battle) · fi mennä kihloihin (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · la fruor (to attract, to please) · fr embrayer (to mesh or interlock) · sh angažirati (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · fr engager (intransitive: to enter into battle) · fi palkata (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · es entablar combate (intransitive: to enter into battle) · bg наемам (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · fi vetää keskusteluun (to draw into conversation) · ca atreure l'atenció (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · th หมั้น (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · uk заді́ювати (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · bg зацепвам (to mesh or interlock) · sh uplesti (to mesh or interlock) · hy նշանել (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · de anlegen (to enter into conflict with an enemy) · pt contratar (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · eo engaĝi (to employ or obtain the services of someone) · de ineinander greifen (to mesh or interlock) · hu harcba bocsátkozik (intransitive: to enter into battle) · it attirare (to attract, to please) · nl verloven (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · it ingaggiare (intransitive: to enter into battle) · it impegnarsi (to bind through legal or moral obligation) · es embelesar (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · it convergere (to engross or hold the attention of someone) · de verpflichten (to guarantee or promise to do something) · it intavolare (to draw into conversation) · es entablar (to draw into conversation) · cs napadnout (to enter into conflict with an enemy)