enlist
verb /ɪnˈlɪst/
/ɪnˈlɪst/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they enlist | /ɪnˈlɪst/ /ɪnˈlɪst/ |
| he / she / it enlists | /ɪnˈlɪsts/ /ɪnˈlɪsts/ |
| past simple enlisted | /ɪnˈlɪstɪd/ /ɪnˈlɪstɪd/ |
| past participle enlisted | /ɪnˈlɪstɪd/ /ɪnˈlɪstɪd/ |
| -ing form enlisting | /ɪnˈlɪstɪŋ/ /ɪnˈlɪstɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] to persuade somebody to help you or to join you in doing something
- enlist something/somebody (in something) They hoped to enlist the help of the public in solving the crime.
- enlist somebody (as something) We were enlisted as helpers.
- enlist somebody to do something We were enlisted to help.
- [intransitive, transitive] to join the armed forces; to make somebody join the armed forces
- They both enlisted in 1915.
- enlist as something to enlist as a soldier
- enlist somebody (in/into/for/as something) He was enlisted into the US Navy.
Word Originmid 16th cent. (formerly also as inlist): from en-, in- ‘in, on’ + list ‘enlist for military service’, perhaps suggested by Dutch inlijsten ‘put on a list’.