word-vault
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A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.
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{
"term": "engage",
"partOfSpeech": "verb",
"ox3000": true,
"cefr": "b2",
"verbForms": {
"presentSimple": {
"iYouWeThey": "engage",
"heSheIt": "engages"
},
"pastSimple": "engaged",
"pastParticiple": "engaged",
"ingForm": "engaging"
},
"definitions": [
{
"senseNumber": 1,
"definition": "to succeed in attracting and keeping somebody’s attention and interest",
"sensetop": "engage something/somebody",
"labels": "(formal)",
"cefr": "b2",
"ox3000": true,
"examples": [
{
"text": "It is a movie that engages both the mind and the eye."
},
{
"text": "Their pleas failed to engage any sympathy."
},
{
"text": "to engage the public/audience/viewer/reader"
},
{
"text": "It was difficult to engage the students at first."
},
{
"text": "The party is attempting to engage young voters politically."
}
],
"collocations": {
"adverb": ["actively", "constructively", "openly"],
"verb + engage": ["fail to", "refuse to"],
"preposition": ["with"],
"verb + engage in": ["attempt to", "seek to", "try to"]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 2,
"definition": "to employ a person, company, etc. to do a particular job",
"sensetop": "engage somebody/somethingengage somebody/something as somethingengage somebody/something to do something",
"labels": "(formal)",
"cefr": "b2",
"ox3000": true,
"examples": [
{
"text": "She has already engaged a lawyer.",
"contextForm": "engage somebody/something"
},
{
"text": "We will have to engage the services of a translator."
},
{
"text": "He was immediately engaged as a consultant.",
"contextForm": "engage somebody/something as something"
},
{
"text": "Karl Böhm engaged her to sing in Vienna.",
"contextForm": "engage somebody/something to do something"
},
{
"text": "Some of the directors wanted to engage another firm."
},
{
"text": "They have engaged companies as subcontractors for the construction work"
},
{
"text": "The government engages charitable organizations to help in the distribution of food"
}
]
},
{
"senseNumber": 3,
"definition": "to become involved with and try to understand something/somebody",
"sensetop": "engage (with something/somebody)",
"examples": [
{
"text": "She has the ability to engage with young minds."
},
{
"text": "We acknowledge the need to engage directly with these problems."
},
{
"text": "Our contributors are actively engaging with tradition."
}
],
"collocations": {
"adverb": ["actively", "constructively", "openly"],
"verb + engage": ["fail to", "refuse to"],
"preposition": ["with"],
"verb + engage in": ["attempt to", "seek to", "try to"]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 4,
"definition": "to begin fighting with somebody",
"sensetop": "engage somebodyengage with somebody",
"labels": "(formal)",
"cefr": "c2",
"examples": [
{
"text": "He ordered his men to engage the enemy.",
"contextForm": "engage somebody"
},
{
"text": "The fleet sailed out of Cadiz to engage with the enemy.",
"contextForm": "engage with somebody"
}
],
"topics": ["War and conflict"]
},
{
"senseNumber": 5,
"definition": "when a part of a machine engages, or when you engage it, it fits together with another part of the machine and the machine begins to work",
"sensetop": "engage with somethingengage something",
"examples": [
{
"text": "The cogwheels are not engaging."
},
{
"text": "One cogwheel engages with the next.",
"contextForm": "engage with something"
},
{
"text": "Engage the clutch before selecting a gear.",
"contextForm": "engage something"
}
]
}
],
"pronunciations": {
"uk": [
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪnˈɡeɪdʒ/",
"audio": "en/engage/engage__gb_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪnˈɡeɪdʒɪz/",
"audio": "en/engage/engages__gb_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪnˈɡeɪdʒd/",
"audio": "en/engage/engaged__gb_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪnˈɡeɪdʒɪŋ/",
"audio": "en/engage/engaging__gb_1.mp3"
}
],
"us": [
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪnˈɡeɪdʒ/",
"audio": "en/engage/engage__us_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪnˈɡeɪdʒɪz/",
"audio": "en/engage/engages__us_1.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪnˈɡeɪdʒd/",
"audio": "en/engage/engaged__us_4.mp3"
},
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪnˈɡeɪdʒɪŋ/",
"audio": "en/engage/engaging__us_1.mp3"
}
]
},
"wordOrigin": "late Middle English (formerly also as ingage): from French engager, ultimately from the base of gage, ‘a pledge or deposit offered as a guarantee’. The word originally meant ‘to pawn or pledge something’, later ‘pledge oneself (to do something)’, hence ‘enter into a contract’ (mid 16th cent.), ‘involve oneself in an activity’, ‘enter into combat’ (mid 17th cent.), giving rise to the notion ‘involve someone or something else’."
}