engage
verbVerb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they engage | |
| he / she / it engages | |
| past simple engaged | |
| past participle engaged | |
| -ing form engaging |
- [transitive] engage something/somebody (formal)
to succeed in attracting and keeping somebody’s attention and interest 吸引住（注意力、兴趣） It is a movie that engages both the mind and the eye. 这是一部令人赏心悦目的影片。 Their pleas failed to engage any sympathy. 他们的请求没有引起任何同情。 to engage the public/audience/viewer/reader 吸引公众/观众/观众/读者 It was difficult to engage the students at first. 起初很难吸引学生。 The party is attempting to engage young voters politically. 这个政党设法让年轻选民参与政治。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- actively
- directly
- fully
- …
- fail to
- refuse to
- with
- actively
- constructively
- openly
- …
- attempt to
- seek to
- try to
- …
- [transitive] (formal)
to employ a person, company, etc. to do a particular job 雇用；聘用 - engage somebody/something
She has aready engaged a lawyer. 她已经和律师订婚了。 We will have to engage the services of a translator. 我们得聘一名翻译人员。 - engage somebody/something as something
He was immediately engaged as a consultant. 他立即被聘为顾问。 - engage somebody/something to do something
Karl Böhm engaged her to sing in Vienna. 卡尔·伯姆约她在维也纳唱歌。
Extra ExamplesSome of the directors wanted to engage another firm. 一些董事想雇用另一家公司。 They have engaged companies as subcontractors for the construction work 他们聘请公司作为建筑工程的分包商 The government engages charitable organizations to help in the distribution of food 政府聘请慈善组织帮助分发食物
- engage somebody/something
- [intransitive] engage (with something/somebody)
to become involved with and try to understand something/somebody 与…建立密切关系；尽力理解 Extra ExamplesWe acknowledge the need to engage directly with these problems. 我们承认需要立即处理这些问题。 Our contributors are actively engaging with tradition. 我们的撰稿人在积极地涉猎传统问题。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- actively
- directly
- fully
- …
- fail to
- refuse to
- with
- actively
- constructively
- openly
- …
- attempt to
- seek to
- try to
- …
- [transitive, intransitive] (formal)
to begin fighting with somebody 与（某人）交战；与（某人）开战 - engage somebody
He ordered his men to engage the enemy. 他命令他的士兵与敌人开战。 - engage with somebody
The fleet sailed out of Cadiz to engage with the enemy. 舰队驶出加的斯与敌人交战。
- engage somebody
- [intransitive, transitive]
when a part of a machine engages, or when you engage it, it fits together with another part of the machine and the machine begins to work （使）衔接，啮合 opposite disengage
Word Originlate Middle English (formerly also as ingage): from French engager, ultimately from the base of gage, ‘a pledge or deposit offered as a guarantee’. The word originally meant ‘to pawn or pledge something’, later ‘pledge oneself (to do something)’, hence ‘enter into a contract’ (mid 16th cent.), ‘involve oneself in an activity’, ‘enter into combat’ (mid 17th cent.), giving rise to the notion ‘involve someone or something else’.