en ‧ gaged /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒd/ BrE AmE adjective
1 . if two people are engaged, they have agreed to marry:
Have you heard? Sally and Ray are getting engaged.
She is engaged to be married.
engaged to
Kate’s engaged to Mark.
2 . British English if you call someone on the telephone and their line is engaged, they are already speaking to someone else SYN busy American English :
She rang Mrs Tavett but the line was engaged.
engaged tone/signal (=the sound you hear when the phone is engaged)
3 . British English written a public toilet that is engaged is being used OPP vacant
4 . be otherwise engaged formal to be unable to do something because you are doing something else
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ married having a husband or wife:
How long have you been married?
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a married couple
▪ single not married:
Chris is 45 and still single.
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single mothers
▪ engaged having formally agreed to marry someone in the future:
Jane and Pete have just got engaged.
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engaged couples
▪ live together to share a home and have a sexual relationship, but not be married:
More and more couples are choosing to live together rather than get married.
▪ separated no longer living with your husband or wife because of problems in your marriage:
I think Joan and Brian are separated now.
▪ divorced no longer married because you have legally ended your marriage:
My parents got divorced when I was 10.
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divorced men
▪ widowed no longer married because your husband or wife has died:
He’s a widowed father of two.