ENGAGING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Engaging

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/ɛngˈeɪdʒɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Encage v. t. (past & past part. encaged; pres. part. engaging) To confine in a cage; to coop up.

Engage v. t. (past & past part. engaged; pres. part. engaging)

To put under pledge; to pledge; to place under obligations to do or forbear doing something, as by a pledge, oath, or promise; to bind by contract or promise. "I to thee engaged a prince's word."

To gain for service; to bring in as associate or aid; to enlist; as, to engage friends to aid in a cause; to engage men for service.

To gain over; to win and attach; to attract and hold; to draw. "Good nature engages everybody to him."

To employ the attention and efforts of; to occupy; to engross; to draw on. "Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage." "Taking upon himself the difficult task of engaging him in conversation."

To enter into contest with; to encounter; to bring to conflict. "A favorable opportunity of engaging the enemy."

(Mach.) To come into gear with; as, the teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another, or one part of a clutch engages the other part.

Engage v. i.

To promise or pledge one's self; to enter into an obligation; to become bound; to warrant. "How proper the remedy for the malady, I engage not."

To embark in a business; to take a part; to employ or involve one's self; to devote attention and effort; to enlist; as, to engage in controversy.

To enter into conflict; to join battle; as, the armies engaged in a general battle.

(Mach.) To be in gear, as two cogwheels working together.

adjective

Engaging adj. Tending to draw the attention or affections; attractive; as, engaging manners or address.

Engaging and disengaging gear or Engaging and disengaging machinery, that in which, or by means of which, one part is alternately brought into gear or out of gear with another part, as occasion may require.

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Etymology of 'Engaging'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Engaging" Quotes from Famous Books

... present lot was to march overland. Whether by land or sea, the destination was Natchez, where the senior partner managed the selling end of the business. Armfield himself was "a man of fine personal appearance, and of engaging and graceful manners"; and his firm was said to have gained the confidence of all the countryside by its honorable dealings and by its resolute efforts to discourage kidnapping. It was said to be highly esteemed even among ...

— American Negro Slavery - A Survey of the Supply, Employment and Control of Negro Labor as Determined by the Plantation Regime • Ulrich Bonnell Phillips

... Gryphus seemed bent upon engaging in a struggle which the pain in his wrist, and shame for having allowed himself to be disarmed, would have made desperate, Cornelius took a decisive step, belaboring his jailer with the most heroic self-possession, and selecting the exact ...

— The Black Tulip • Alexandre Dumas (Pere)

... the shaft, found its neighbourhood deserted—not a living thing of any sort was there except one Chinaman poking his stick into the rubbish. Pippin was away down the coast engaging an engineer; and on his return, Scorrier had not the heart to tell him of the desertion. He was spared the effort, for Pippin said: "Don't be afraid—you've got bad news? The ...

— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... and yet they have not said in so many words, what they darkly insinuate, that the poet was not a loyal British subject. His love of country is too surely established. That, later, he thought the Ministry engaging in an unjust and unrighteous war, may be frankly admitted. He was not alone in his opinion; nor was he the only poet carried away with a wild enthusiasm of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Societies were then ...

— Robert Burns - Famous Scots Series • Gabriel Setoun

... ten to fifteen years old, come over here. They are generally so poor that they cannot pay their passage. When this is the case, the captain brings them over on his own account, and is paid beforehand, by the person engaging them, their wages for the first year. These young people live very economically, and when they have a little money, return generally to their native country, though many hire themselves as journeymen, and ...

— A Woman's Journey Round the World • Ida Pfeiffer

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