# engage

Pronunciation: say "in-GAYJ" /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/

## Verb

1. To hold or occupy someone's attention; to keep someone busy.
   - Simple: To hold someone's attention or keep them busy.
   - _The lecturer engaged her audience with vivid examples._
   - _Interactive exhibits engage visitors more effectively than static displays._
2. To draw someone into conversation.
   - Simple: To start talking with someone and draw them into conversation.
   - _The host engaged each guest in warm conversation._
   - _He knows how to engage strangers without seeming intrusive._
3. To arrange to employ a worker or reserve a space for a purpose.
   - Simple: To hire a worker or book a space for a job or event.
   - _The firm engaged a consultant to review its finances._
   - _Organizers engage a hall months before the conference._
4. To enter into conflict or combat with an enemy.
   - Simple: To begin fighting against an enemy.
   - _The battalion engaged enemy forces at dawn._
   - _Fighter pilots are trained to engage hostile aircraft only when ordered._
5. To go into battle and begin combat.
   - Simple: To begin fighting in a battle.
   - _The regiments engaged before reinforcements could arrive._
   - _Cavalry units engage only on open ground._
6. To mesh or interlock, as the parts of a machine do.
   - Simple: To lock together so the parts of a machine move as one.
   - _The gears engage smoothly once the clutch is released._
   - _A worn mechanism may fail to engage properly._
7. To bind oneself by a promise or guarantee to do something.
   - Simple: To promise that you will do something.
   - _The supplier engaged to deliver the goods by Friday._
   - _They engage to maintain the property at their own expense._
8. To bind someone by legal or moral obligation, especially to marry.
   - Simple: To bind someone by a promise, especially a promise to marry.
   - _The duke engaged his daughter to a neighboring prince._
   - _Tradition once allowed elders to engage young people to chosen partners._
9. To attract or please someone; in archaic use, to fascinate or win someone over.
   - Simple: To attract or please someone.
   - _His easy manner engaged the whole room._
   - _Good design should engage the eye without overwhelming it._
10. To come into gear with another moving part.
   - Simple: To lock into gear with another moving part.
   - _The pinion engages the rack to convert rotation into linear motion._
   - _When you release the pedal, the gears engage the driveshaft._

## Verb

11. To entangle or ensnare something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To tangle something up or catch it fast.
12. To pledge or pawn one's property; to put something at risk or mortgage land. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To promise property as payment, or to risk losing it.
   - _The baron engaged his estates to fund the campaign._
   - _Merchants would engage their goods against a loan from the bank._

## Origin

From Middle English engagen, from Old French engagier ("to pledge, engage"), which traces back through Frankish and Proto-Germanic roots meaning "to pledge" or "guarantee." It is equivalent to en- + gage and is cognate with German wetten ("to bet") and related to the English word "wed."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/engage (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).