en ‧ gage ‧ ment /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒmənt/ BrE AmE noun
1 . BEFORE MARRIAGE [countable] an agreement between two people to marry, or the period of time they are engaged
engagement of/to
Their engagement was announced in the paper.
Tony was stunned when Lisa suddenly broke off their engagement (=finished it) .
engagement ring (=a ring that a man gives a woman to show that they are engaged)
2 . ARRANGEMENT TO DO SOMETHING [countable] an official arrangement to do something, especially one that is related to your work
official/public/royal etc engagement
The princess will continue to carry out royal engagements.
This is his only public speaking engagement on the tour.
His excuse of a prior engagement was accepted.
3 . INVOLVEMENT [uncountable] when you become involved with someone or something in order to understand them
engagement with/in
a strategy of engagement and cooperation with China
Many students pass without any real engagement in learning.
4 . FIGHTING [uncountable and countable] technical fighting between armies etc:
military rules of engagement
5 . EMPLOYMENT [uncountable and countable] formal an official arrangement to employ or pay someone to do a particular job:
Please sign to indicate your acceptance of the terms of engagement.
6 . MACHINE PARTS [uncountable] the fitting together of the working parts of a machine
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ verbs
▪ announce your engagement (=tell people about it)
The couple are expected to announce their engagement today.
▪ break off your engagement (=suddenly end it)
Were you surprised when Toni broke off your engagement?
■ adjectives
▪ long (=a long period between getting engaged and getting married)
Neither of them wanted a long engagement.
▪ short
They were married last month after a short engagement.
■ engagement + NOUN
▪ engagement ring
Jerry bought her a beautiful sapphire engagement ring.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ verbs
▪ have an engagement
I don't have any engagements tomorrow.
▪ carry out an engagement
Last year, the princess carried out over 300 official engagements.
▪ cancel an engagement
He instructed his secretary to cancel all his engagements.
■ adjectives
▪ an official engagement
This is the Prime Minister's first official engagement since the elections.
▪ a public engagement
She appeared with her husband at many public engagements.
▪ an important engagement
He had an important engagement with his solicitor.
▪ a previous/prior engagement (=one that is already arranged)
I'm sorry I can't be there, but I have a previous engagement.
▪ a speaking engagement (=one in which you give a speech)
I've been turning down speaking engagements to concentrate on writing my memoirs.