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Engage vs Amuse - What's the difference?

engage | amuse |

As verbs the difference between engage and amuse

is that engage is while amuse is .

engage

English

(wikipedia engage)

Alternative forms

* ingage (obsolete)

Verb

(engag)
  • To interact socially.
  • #To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied.
  • #*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • #*:Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage .
  • #To draw into conversation.
  • #*(Nathaniel Hawthorne) (1804-1864)
  • #*:the difficult task of engaging him in conversation
  • #To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone).
  • #*(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • #*:Good nature engages everybody to him.
  • (lb) To interact antagonistically.
  • #(lb) To enter into conflict with (an enemy).
  • #*(Fitz Hugh Ludlow) (1836-1870)
  • #*:a favourable opportunity of engaging the enemy
  • #(lb) To enter into battle.
  • (lb) To interact contractually.
  • #(lb) To arrange to employ or use (a worker, a space, etc.).
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged , and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.}}
  • #(lb) To guarantee or promise (to do something).
  • #(lb) To bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) (usually in passive).
  • #:
  • # To pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land).
  • #* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
  • Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage .
  • (lb) To interact mechanically.
  • #To mesh or interlock (of machinery, especially a clutch).
  • #:
  • # To come into gear with.
  • The teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another.
  • (label) To enter into (an activity), to participate (construed with in).
  • *
  • *:“[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”
  • Antonyms

    * (to cause to mesh or interlock) disengage

    Derived terms

    * engagement * disengage * disengagement ----

    amuse

    English

    Verb

  • To entertain or occupy in a pleasant manner; to stir with pleasing emotions.
  • I watch these movies because they amuse me.
    It always amuses me to hear the funny stories why people haven't got a ticket, but I never let them get in without paying.
  • * Gilpin
  • A group of children amusing themselves with pushing stones from the top [of the cliff], and watching as they plunged into the lake.
  • To cause laughter, to be funny.
  • (archaic) To keep in expectation; to beguile; to delude.
  • * Johnson
  • He amused his followers with idle promises.
  • (archaic) To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder.
  • * Holland
  • Camillus set upon the Gauls when they were amused in receiving their gold.
  • * Fuller
  • Being amused with grief, fear, and fright, he could not find the house.

    Synonyms

    * entertain, gratify, please, divert, beguile

    Derived terms

    * amusement

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----