Adjective

(en adjective)

Capable of being touched, felt or handled; touchable, tangible.

* (William Shakespeare), Hamlet , act 5, sc. 2:

Osric: A hit, a very palpable hit.

* 1838 , (Edgar Allan Poe), "Ligeia":

I had felt that some palpable although invisible object had passed lightly by my person.

* 1894 , (Bret Harte), "The Heir of the McHulishes" in A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's and Other Stories :

The next morning the fog had given way to a palpable , horizontally driving rain.

Obvious or easily perceived; noticeable.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness,

* 1913 , (Sax Rohmer), The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu ch. 24:

Her voice, her palpable agitation, prepared us for something extraordinary.

* 1916 , (Kathleen Norris), The Heart of Rachael , ch. 7:

No use in raging, in reasoning, in arguing. No use in setting forth the facts, the palpable right and wrong.

(medicine) That can be detected by palpation.

Adjective

(-)

Agreed to be married.

Busy or employed.

(British) (of a telephone) Already involved in a telephone call when a third party calls

I tried calling, but she (''or'' her phone) was engaged .

(architecture, of a column) attached to a wall or sunk into it halfway

(of gears or cogs) in contact and in operation