All 8 Uses
engage
in
The Great Gatsby
(Edited)
- We heard you were engaged to a girl out West.
p. 19.6engaged = in an agreement to marry
- We heard that you were engaged.
p. 19.7
- Of course I knew what they were referring to, but I wasn't even vaguely engaged.
p. 19.9 *
- Eluding Jordan's undergraduate, who was now engaged in an obstetrical conversation with two chorus girls, and who implored me to join him, I went inside.
p. 50.9 *engaged = involved
- One of the girls in yellow was playing the piano, and beside her stood a tall, red-haired young lady from a famous chorus, engaged in song.
p. 51.1
- She had a debut after the Armistice, and in February she was presumably engaged to a man from New Orleans.
p. 75.8engaged = in an agreement to marry
- And we all took the less explicable step of engaging the parlor of a suite in the Plaza Hotel.
p. 126.1 *engaging = occupying
- When I had finished she told me without comment that she was engaged to another man.
p. 177.4engaged = in an agreement to marry
Definitions:
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(1)
(engage as in: engage in conversation) to interact in various ways -- such as to participate, involve, interest, or attractThe exact meaning of this sense of engage depends upon its context. For example:
- "They engaged in debate." -- participated
- "She engaged him in conversation." -- involved
- "She is an engaging conversationalist." -- interesting
- "She has an engaging smile." -- attractive (attracting interest and interaction)
- "The proposal engages the interest of many young voters." -- attracts and involves
- "She engages with her constituents." -- interacts in a meaningful way
- "She engaged in foolish behavior." -- entered into
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(2)
(engage as in: engage her services) hire, reserve, book, or occupy
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(3)
(engaged as in: engaged and then married) promised to marry
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(4)
(engage as in: engage the enemy) begin fighting
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(5)
(engage as in: engage the gears) move into position to work; or start
- (6) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)