I. ə̇mˈplȯi, em- transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English emploien, from Middle French emploier from Old French empleoir, emploiier, from Latin implicare to infold, involve, implicate, engage, from in- in- (II) + plicare to fold — more at ply
1.
a. : to make use of
employ a pen for sketching
employ metal girders in building construction
employ questionable methods in business
craftsmen were finding in the new land raw materials on which they could employ all their artistry — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
atomic energy could be employed for military purposes — Current Biography
office buildings are beginning to employ whole banks of elevators which … run without operators or starters — John Lear
b. : to use or occupy (as time) advantageously
employ your leisure in reading
possible fields where the capacities and interests of the student might best be employed — Bates Boyle
c. : to use or engage the services of
employ a lawyer to straighten out a legal tangle
also : to provide with a job that pays wages or a salary or with a means of earning a living
he is employed by a local plumbing concern
d. : to devote to or direct toward a particular activity or person
employ all his talent to the creation of frivolities
all his caddishness was employed against her — J.F.Gore
e. : occupy , busy
employ oneself in charitable activities
employ the child at cutting out paper dolls
2. obsolete
a. : comprise , include , enclose
b. : signify , imply
3. obsolete : to dispatch (a person) with a commission
Synonyms: see use
II. “ sometimes ˈemˌp- noun
( -s )
1. archaic
a. : something on which one is employed or with which he is occupied ; also : use , purpose
that war chest … which had been accumulated by the late king for the proposed Spanish war, and which had now no employ — Hilaire Belloc
b. : business , occupation , trade , profession
2. : the state of being employed especially for wages or a salary by someone or something (as an employer or a business firm)
in the employ of a trucking company
professors of science, though not actually in the government's employ — Waldemar Kaempffert
3. archaic : an official public position