Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense engages, present participle engaging, past tense, past participle engaged
1. verb
If you engage in an activity, you do it or are actively involved with it.
[formal]
It is important for children to have time to engage in family activities. [VERB + in]
You can engage in croquet on the south lawn. [VERBin noun]
2. verb
If something engages you or your attention or interest, it keeps you interested in it and thinking about it.
They never learned skills to engage the attention of the others. [VERB noun]
3. verb
If you engage someone in conversation, you have a conversation with them.
They tried to engage him in conversation. [VERB noun + in]
We want to engage recognized leaders in discussion. [V n in n]
Synonyms: occupy, involve, draw, busy More Synonyms of engage
4. verb
If you engage with something or with a group of people, you get involved with that thing or group and feel that you are connected with it or have real contact with it.
She found it hard to engage with office life. [VERB + with]
I will keep blogging because it offers me a way to engage with readers. [VERBwith noun]
engagementuncountable noun
And she, too, suffers from a lack of critical engagement with the literary texts. [+ with]
Synonyms: promise, word, contract, bond More Synonyms of engage
Synonyms: job, work, post, situation More Synonyms of engage
Synonyms: participation, joining, taking part, involvement More Synonyms of engage
5. verb
If you engage someone to do a particular job, you appoint them to do it.
[formal]
We engaged the services of a recognised engineer. [VERB noun]
He had been able to engage some staff. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: employ, commission, appoint, take on More Synonyms of engage
6. verb
When a part of a machine or other mechanism engages or when you engage it, it moves into a position where it fits into something else.
Press the lever until you hear the catch engage. [VERB]
...a lesson in how to engage the four-wheel drive. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: interlock, join, interact, mesh More Synonyms of engage
7. verb
When a military force engages the enemy, it attacks them and starts a battle.
It could engage the enemy beyond the range of hostile torpedoes. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: begin battle with, attack, take on, encounter More Synonyms of engage
8. See also engaged, engaging
More Synonyms of engage
engage in British English
(ɪnˈɡeɪdʒ)
verb(mainly tr)
1.
to secure the services of; employ
2.
to secure for use; reserve
engage a room
3.
to involve (a person or his or her attention) intensely; engross; occupy
4.
to attract (the affection) of (a person)
her innocence engaged him
5.
to draw (somebody) into conversation
6. (intransitive)
to take part; participate
he engages in many sports
7.
to promise (to do something)
8. (also intr) military
to begin an action with (an enemy)
9.
to bring (a mechanism) into operation
he engaged the clutch
10. (also intr)
to undergo or cause to undergo interlocking, as of the components of a driving mechanism, such as a gear train
11. machinery
to locate (a locking device) in its operative position or to advance (a tool) into a workpiece to commence cutting
Derived forms
engager (enˈgager)
noun
Word origin
C15: from Old French engagier, from en-1 + gage a pledge, see gage1
engagé in British English
French (ɑ̃ɡaʒe)
adjective
(of a male writer or artist) morally or politically committed to some ideology
engage in American English
(ɛnˈgeɪdʒ; ɪnˈgeɪdʒ)
verb transitiveWord forms: enˈgaged or enˈgaging
1. Obsolete
to give or assign as security for a debt, etc.
2.
to bind (oneself) by a promise; pledge; specif. (now only in the passive), to bind by a promise of marriage; betroth
he is engaged to Ann
3.
to arrange for the services of; hire; employ
to engage a lawyer
4.
to arrange for the use of; reserve
to engage a hotel room
5.
to draw into; involve
to engage him in conversation
6.
to attract and hold (the attention, etc.)
7.
to employ or keep busy; occupy
reading engages his spare time
8.
to enter into conflict with (the enemy)
9.
a.
to interlock with or cause to come into frictional driving contact with
b.
to mesh together
engage the gears
10. Obsolete
to entangle; ensnare
verb intransitive
11.
to pledge oneself; promise; undertake; agree
to engage to do something
12.
to occupy or involve oneself; take part; be active
to engage in dramatics
13.
to enter into conflict
14.
to interlock; mesh
Word origin
ME engagen < OFr engagier: see en-1 & gage1
engagé in American English
(ɑ̃gaˈʒeɪ)
French
adjective
committed to supporting some aim, cause, etc.
Word origin
Fr
engage in Automotive Engineering
(ɪngeɪdʒ)
Word forms: (present) engages, (past) engaged, (perfect) engaged, (progressive) engaging
verb
(Automotive engineering: Vehicle components, Engine, transmission, and exhaust)
If you engage a clutch or a gear, you put the mechanism into operation.
COLLOCATIONS: ~ the clutch
She engaged the clutch and the vehicle started to move away.
Starting up the engine, he engaged first gear and began to turn the car.
The engine should spin at the right speed so that when the clutch is let out to engage the lower gear, there is no jerkiness.
Examples of 'engage' in a sentence
engage
Awful family across the aisle engage us in conversation.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The key to getting them off without causing an argument is to engage them with something else.
The Sun (2016)
Consumers spend their time trying to check prices rather than engage in productive activity.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Soon after he returned from war they were engaged.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Keep it simple and disciplined People engage with politics rarely and for short periods of time.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It can be hard to find common ground and remain engaged with people you don't know.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In any project aiming at long-term sustainability it is vital to engage young people.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
As soon as you engage with another person, there's a behavioural symmetry.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It's feelgood, and people want to engage with that.
The Sun (2016)
Before making an appointment, I have made a shortlist of three and then engaged the person most suited for the job.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Our main object is to engage enemy bombers.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
This enables us to engage with groups and individuals that statutory providers find difficult.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
This is about engaging with younger people.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
English was the one lesson that engaged his attention at school.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
You can engage in " passive cooperation.
Christianity Today (2000)
Growing old chronologically does not mean a person cannot engage in physical activities.
Appelbaum, Richard P. Sociology (1995)
You are about to engage in a battle with your entire force.
Iain Gale Man of Honour (2007)
Now the gangs are back fighting turf wars and engaging in gun battles with police.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
And they engaged with the enemy on only one in five days at war.
The Sun (2016)
People are engaged in life and the environment.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But fair dealing is not a subject that engages the attention of any of the contributors.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
Consequently they saw no reason why they should engage the enemy unless they did so in overwhelming force.
French, David The British way in Warfare - 1688-2000 (1990)
Explaining and predicting what people will do by citing their beliefs is something we all engage in all the time.
Dylan Evans PLACEBO: The Belief Effect (2003)
Then the going got a bit snowy and steep and it was time to engage four-wheel drive.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But sensors monitor road conditions and automatically engage four-wheel drive when necessary.
The Sun (2006)
Within weeks we and our former partners on the Continent are engaged in a war beyond imagination.
The Sun (2013)
He has been warned that he will no longer be engaged in the passive defence of his country, but taking the battle to the enemy.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
In other languages
engage
British English: engage VERB
to engage in sth If you engage in an activity, you do it or are actively involved with it.
Many of these young people engage in criminal activities.