{
    "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’."
}