Link Centre Dictionary

employ

emp·loy

UK/ɪmˈplɔɪ/ US/ɛmˈplɔɪ/ fairly common
verb (2) noun (1)

verb

1.

put into service; make work or employ (something) for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose

  • “use your head!”
  • “we only use Spanish at home”
  • “I can”
  • “;”
  • “;”
  • “;”
  • “;”
  • “;”
  • “;”
  • “t know how to use a computer”
Synonyms
2.

engage or hire for work

  • “They hired two new secretaries in the department”
  • “How many people has she employed?”
Synonyms
Antonyms

noun

1.

the state of being employed or having a job

  • “they are looking for employment”
  • “he was in the employ of the city”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From late Middle English emploien, imploien, emplien (“to apply to a specific purpose”), from Anglo-Norman emploier, Old French emploiier (“to entangle, fabricate, to make use of”), ultimately from Latin implicāre (“to infold, entangle, involve, engage”), from in- (“in”) + plicāre (“to fold”). Doublet of imply and implicate.

Phrases

  • employ a steam engine to crack a nut

Related words

Word family

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Causes

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.