engaged
佔線
En·gage v. t. [imp. & p. p. Engaged p. pr. & vb. n. Engaging ]
1. To put under pledge; to pledge; to place under obligations to do or forbear doing something, as by a pledge, oath, or promise; to bind by contract or promise. “I to thee engaged a prince's word.”
2. To gain for service; to bring in as associate or aid; to enlist; as, to engage friends to aid in a cause; to engage men for service.
3. To gain over; to win and attach; to attract and hold; to draw.
Good nature engages everybody to him. --Addison.
4. To employ the attention and efforts of; to occupy; to engross; to draw on.
Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage. --Pope.
Taking upon himself the difficult task of engaging him in conversation. --Hawthorne.
5. To enter into contest with; to encounter; to bring to conflict.
A favorable opportunity of engaging the enemy. --Ludlow.
6. Mach. To come into gear with; as, the teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another, or one part of a clutch engages the other part.
En·gaged a.
1. Occupied; employed; busy.
2. Pledged; promised; especially, having the affections pledged; promised in marriage; affianced; betrothed.
3. Greatly interested; of awakened zeal; earnest.
4. Involved; esp., involved in a hostile encounter; as, the engaged ships continued the fight.
Engaged column. Arch. Same as Attached column. See under Attach, v. t.
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engaged
adj 1: having ones attention or mind or energy engaged; "she keeps
herself fully occupied with volunteer activities";
"deeply engaged in conversation" [syn: occupied]
2: involved in military hostilities; "the desperately engaged
ships continued the fight"
3: reserved in advance [syn: booked, set-aside(p)]
4: (of facilities such as telephones or lavatories) unavailable
for use by anyone else or indicating unavailability;
(`engaged' is a British term for a busy telephone line);
"her line is busy"; "receptionists' telephones are always
engaged"; "the lavatory is in use"; "kept getting a busy
signal" [syn: busy, in use(p)]
5: (used of toothed parts or gears) interlocked and
interacting; "the gears are engaged"; "meshed gears";
"intermeshed twin rotors" [syn: meshed, intermeshed]
6: having services contracted for; "the carpenter engaged (or
employed) for the job is sick"
7: built against or attached to a wall; "engaged columns"
8: pledged to be married; "the engaged couple" [syn: affianced,
bespoken, betrothed, pledged]