en ‧ gage W3 /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒ/ BrE AmE verb formal
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: engager , from gage 'something given as a promise' ]
1 . [intransitive always + preposition] to be doing or to become involved in an activity
engage in/on/upon
Only 10% of American adults engage in regular exercise.
The two parties engaged upon an escalating political struggle.
Mr Armstrong was engaged in prayer.
engage in doing something
Despite her illness, she remains actively engaged in shaping policy.
2 . [transitive] to attract someone’s attention and keep them interested
engage sb’s interest/attention
The toy didn’t engage her interest for long.
engage somebody in conversation (=start talking to them)
3 . engage with somebody/something to get involved with other people and their ideas in order to understand them:
Are you so tired you don’t have the energy to engage with your kids?
4 . [transitive] formal to employ someone to do a particular job
engage somebody to do something
Her father engaged a tutor to improve her maths.
engage somebody as something
We’d be able to engage local people as volunteers.
5 . [intransitive and transitive] if you engage part of a machine, or if it engages, it moves so that it fits into another part of the machine OPP disengage :
She engaged the clutch and the car moved.
engage with
The wheel engages with the cog and turns it.
6 . [intransitive and transitive] to begin to fight an enemy:
American forces did not directly engage.