engage 
4. In fencing, to cross weapons with an adver- 
sary, pressing against his with sufficient force 
to prevent any mauceuver from taking one un- 
awares. Farrow, Mil. Encyc. 5. In mack., to 
mesh and interact. 
Fixed on a horizontal shaft above the vessel [a sort .of 
water-clock] was a small toothed wheel, with which the 
toothed rack engaged, and which was, therefore, caused 
to turn by the rise of the float. 
American Anthropologist, I, 47. 
Engaging and disengaging machinery, machinery in 
which one part is alternately united to and separated from 
another, as occasion may require. 
engaged (en-gajd'), p. a. [Pp. of engage, v.] 
1. Affianced; betrothed: as, an engaged pair. 
2. Busy or occupied with matters which can- 
not be interrupted ; not at leisure : as, when I 
call I always find him engaged. 3. In arch., 
partly built or sunk into, or having the appear- 
ance of being partly built or sunk into, some- 
thing else : as, engaged columns. 
All these sculptures have been attached as decorations 
to a marble background ; the figures are not, therefore, 
sculptured in the round, but, if we may borrow a term 
used by architects, are engaged figures. 
C. T. Newton, Art and Arclweol., p. 78. 
Engaged column. See cotonn. Engaged wheels, in 
inech., wheels that are in gear with each other. The 
driver is the engaging wheel, and the follower is the 
wheel engaged. 
engagedly (en-ga'jed-li), adv. In an engaged 
manner; with entangling attachment, asapar- 
tizan. 
Far better it were for publick good there were more 
. . . progressive pioneers in the mines of knowledge, than 
controverters of what is found ; it would lessen the num- 
ber of conciliatours ; which cannot themselves now write, 
but as engagedly biassed to one side or other. 
Whitlock, Manners of Eng. People, p. 233. 
engagedness (en-ga'jed-nes), n. The state of 
being engaged, or seriously and earnestly oc- 
cupied; zeal; animation. 
engagement (en-gaj'ment), n. [Formerly also 
ingagement; = D. G. l)an. Sw. engagement, < 
F. engagement = It. ingaggiamento, < ML. in- 
vadiamentum, engagement, < invadiare (> F. en- 
gager, etc.), engage : see engage and -ment.] 1. 
The act of engaging, binding, or pledging, or 
the state of being engaged, bound, or pledged. 
These are they who have bound the land with the sinne 
of Sacrilege, from which mortal ingagement wee shall 
never be free till wee have totally remov'd with one labour 
as one individuall thing Prelaty and Sacrilege. 
Milton, Apology for Smectymnuus. 
2. That to which one is engaged or pledged ; 
an agreement; an appointment ; a contract; an 
undertaking: as, he failed to fulfil his engage- 
ment. 
If the superior officers prevailed, they would be able 
to make good their engagement ; if not, they must apply 
themselves to him [the king] for their own security. 
Ludlow, Memoirs, 1. 186. 
We damsels shall soon be obliged to carry a book to en- 
rol our engagements ... if this system of reversionary 
dancing be any longer encouraged. 
Disraeli, Young Duke, ii. 3. 
Specifically 3. The state of having entered 
into a contract of marriage ; betrothal : as, their 
engagement has been announced. 4. That 
which engages or binds ; obligation. 
He was kindly used, and dismissed in peace, professing 
much engagement for the great courtesy he found there. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 232. 
This is the greatest engagement not to forfeit an oppor- 
tunity. Hammond, Fundamentals. 
Religion, which is the chief engagement of our league. 
Milton. 
5f. Strong attachment or adherence; partial- 
ity; bias; partizanship. 
The opportunity of so fit a messenger, and my deep en- 
gagement of affection to thee, makes me write at this time. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 437. 
This may be obvious to any who impartially, and without 
engagement, is at pains to examine. Swift. 
6. Occupation; employment of the attention ; 
affair of business. 
Play, either by our too long or too constant engagement 
in it, becomes like an employment or profession. Rogers. 
7. In mach., the act or state of meshing toge- 
ther and acting upon each other: as, the engage- 
ment of geared wheels. 8. A combat between 
armies or fleets; a fight ; a conflict ; a battle. 
The showr of Arrows and Darts overpass't, both Battels 
attack'd each other with a close and terrible ingagement. 
Milton, Hist. Eng., v. 
All full of expectation of the fleete's engagement, but it 
is not yet. Pepys, Diary, II. 418. 
Our army, led by valiant Torrismond, 
Is now in hot engagement with the Moors. Dryden. 
To recite at this time the circumstances of the Ingage- 
ment at Brandywine, which have been bandied about' in 
all the Newspapers, would be totally unnecessary. 
Washington, to Col. bam'l Washington, X. A. Rev., 
[CXLI1I. 480. 
1930 
9. In fencing, the joining of weapons with an 
adversary: as, an engagement in carte, tierce, 
etc. Rolando (ed. Forsyth) The Engagement, 
in British hist., the name given to a treaty entered into 
in 1647 between Charles I., then in the hands of the Par- 
liamentary army, and commissioners on behalf of the mod- 
erate Presbyterians in Scotland, whereby the latter, for 
certain concessions on the king's part, engaged to deliver 
him from captivity by force of arms. = Syn. 2. Pledge, etc. 
(see promise, n.), contract. 8. Conflict, Fight, etc. See 
talttei. 
engager (en-ga'jer), n. 1. One who engages 
or secures. 2. One who enters into an engage- 
ment or agreement ; a surety. 
And that they [Italian operas] might be performed with 
all decency, seeraliness, and without rudeness and pro- 
faneness, John Maynard . . . and several sufficient citizens 
were engagers. Wood, Athena? Oxon. 
3. [cap.'] In Scottish hist., one of a party who 
supported the treaty called " The Engagement," 
and who joined in the invasion of England con- 
sequent on it. See phrase under engagement. 
engaging (en-ga'jing), p. a. [Ppr. of engage, v.~\ 
Winning ; attractive ; tending to draw the at- 
tention, the interest, or the affections; pleas- 
ing: as, engaging manners or address. 
His [Horace's] addresses to the persons who favoured 
him are so inimitably engaging, that Augustus complained 
of him for so seldom writing to him. 
Steele, Tatler, No. 173. 
That common-sense which is one of the most useful, 
though not one of the most engaging, properties of the 
[English] race. Lowell, Books and Libraries. 
The Greeks combine the energy of manhood with the 
engaging unconsciousness of childhood. 
Emerson, History. 
engagingly (en-ga'jing-li), adv. In an engag- 
ing manner; so as to win the affections. 
engagingness (en-ga'jing-nes), n. The quality 
of being engaging ; attractiveness; attraction: 
as, the engagingness of his manners. 
engallantt (en-gal'ant), v. t. [< en-1 + gal- 
lant.] To make a gallant of. 
I would have you direct all your courtship thither ; if 
you could but endear yourself to her affection, you were 
eternally engallanted. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, iv. 1. 
engaolt (en-jal')> v. t. An obsolete form of en- 
jail. 
engarboilt (en-gar'boil), v. t. [< e-i + gar- 
boil.] To disorder. 
It is strange, that for wishing, advising, and in his owne 
particular using and ensuing that moderation, thereby not 
to engarboile the church, and disturb the course of piety, 
he should so ... bee blamed. 
Up. Mountagu, Appeal to Caesar, ix. 
engarland (en-gar'land), v. t. [< ew- 1 + gar- 
land.'] To encircle with a garland. [Poetical.] 
Muses ! I oft invoked your holy aid, 
With choicest flowers my speech t' enqarland so. 
Sir P. Sidney (Arber's Eug. Garner, I. 630). 
Engarlanded and diaper'd 
With inwrought flowers. 
Tennyson, Arabian Night*. 
engarrison (en-gar'i-sn), v. t. [< en-i + gar- 
riaon.] To place in garrison or in a state of 
defense. 
In this case we encounter sin in the body, like a be- 
sieged enemy ; and such an one, when he has engarrison'd 
himself in a strong hold, will endure a storm. 
South, Works, IX. v. 
There was John engarrison'd, and provided for the as- 
sault with a trusty sword, and other implements of war. 
Olanville, Witchcraft, p. 127. 
engastrimytht (en-gas'tri-mith), n. [Also en- 
gastromith, engastrimutli ; < Gr. eyyaarpifivdof, 
a ventriloquist, generally used of women who 
delivered oracles by ventriloquy, < ev yaarpi, 
in the belly (Iv, in ; yaarpi, dat. of yatrrj/p, akin 
to L. venter, belly), + fii>6of, speech. See myth.] 
A ventriloquist. 
So, all incenst, the pale engatitromitk 
(Rul'd by the furious spirit he's haunted with) 
Speaks in his womb. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Imposture. 
engender (en-jen'der), v. [Formerly also in- 
gender ; < ME. engendren, < OF. engendrer, F. 
engendrer = Pr. engenrar, engendrar = Sp. Pg. 
engendrar = It. ingenerare, < L. ingenerare, be- 
get, < in, in, + generare, beget, produce, gener- 
ate: see generate and gender.] I. trans. 1. To 
breed; beget; generate. 
Thus, delves made, on hem shall weete and heete, 
Thai two dooth all engendre grapes greete. 
Palladium, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 44. 
Hence 2. To produce; cause to exist ; bring 
forth ; cause ; excite : as, intemperance engen- 
ders disease ; angry words engender strife. 
This bastard love is engendered betwixt lust and idle- 
ness. Sir P. Sidney. 
engine 
Sir Philip Sidney very pretily closed vp a dittie in this 
sort : 
What medcine, then, can such disease remoue 
Where loue breedes hate, and hate engenders loue ? 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 181. 
Of that airy 
And oily water, mercury is engendered. 
B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1. 
Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires, 
Blown up with high conceits iniienderim/ pride. 
Milton, P. L., iv. 809. 
From the prejudices engendered by the Church, I pass 
to the prejudices engendered by the army itself. 
Sumner, Orations, I. 59. 
= Syn. 2. To call forth, create, give rise to, occasion, stir 
up. 
II. intrans. 1. To be caused or produced; 
come into existence. 
Take hede they speake no wordes of villany, for it 
causeth much corruption to ingender in them. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 64. 
Thick clouds are spread, and storms engender there. 
Dryden. 
2. To come together; meet in sexual embrace. 
Luff ingendreth with ioye, as in a iust sawle, 
And hate in his hote yre hastis to wer. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 7959. 
The council of Trent and the Spanish inquisition, ingen- 
dering together, brought forth those catalogues and ex- 
purgating indexes. Milton, Areopagitica. 
engenderer (en-jen'der-er), . [= F. engen- 
dreur = Pr. engenraire, engenrador = Sp. en- 
gendrador = It. ingeneratore, < L. as if *inge- 
nerator, < ingenerare, engender: see engender.] 
One who or that which engenders ; a begetter. 
The ingenderers and ingendered. 
Sir J. Dames, Wittes Pilgrimage, sig. 0, 1. 
engendruret, n. [ME., also engendure, < OF. 
engendrure, engendreure, engenrure, engenreure = 
Pr. engenradura, < L. as if *ingeneratura, < in- 
generare, engender: see engender.] 1. The act 
of generation ; a begetting. 
Haddestow as greet a leeve as thou hast myght, 
To parfourne al thy lust in Engendrure, 
Thou haddest bigeten many a creature. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Monk's Tale, 1. 59. 
2. Descent ; lineage. 
Hys engendrure to declare and tell, 
Comyn is he off full noble linage. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), !. 6345. 
engild (en-gild'), v. t.; pret. and pp. engilded, 
engilt, ppr. engilding. [< en- 1 + gild.] To gild; 
brighten. 
Fair Helena ; who more engildn the night 
Than all yon fiery oes and eyes of light. 
Shak., M. N. D., iii. 2. 
engint, n. An obsolete spelling of engine. 
engin. An abbreviation of engineering. 
engin-a-verge (F. pron. on-zhan'a-verzh'), n. 
A military engine or catapult for throwing large 
stones, barrels of combustibles, etc. , by means 
of a mast or staff rotating about one end, and 
having at the other a spoon, hook, or other de- 
vice for holding the projectile. 
engine (en'jin), n. [Also dial, ingine, ingin; < 
ME. engin, engyn, engen, rarely ingyne (with ac- 
cent on second syllable, whence by apheresis 
often gin, gyn, ginne, gynne, > mod. E. gin*, q. 
v.), < OF. engin, enging, engeng, engeinh, enginh, 
natural ability, artifice, a mechanical contri- 
vance, esp. a war-engine, a battering-ram, F. 
engin = Pr. engin, engen = OSp. eiigeno, Sp. 
ingenio = Pg. engenho = It. ingegno, < L. inge- 
nium, innate or natural quality, nature, genius, 
a genius, an invention, in LL. a war-engine, 
battering-ram, < ingignere (pp. ingenitiis), instil 
by birth, implant, produce in: see ingenious, 
and of. genius.] If. Innate or natural ability; 
ingenuity; craft; skill. 
But consydreth well, that I ne usurpe not to have found- 
en this werke of my labour or of myne engin. 
Chaucer, Astrolabe, Pref. 
Virgil won the bays, 
And past them all for deep engine, and made them all to 
gaze 
Upon the books he made. Churchyard. 
Such also as made most of their workes by translation 
out of the Latine and French toung, & few or none of their 
owne engine. Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 68. 
He does 't by engine and devices, he ! 
B. Jonixm, Devil is an Ass, ii. 1. 
2t. An artful device or contrivance ; a skilful- 
ly devised plan or method ; a subtle artifice. 
Therefore this craftie engine he did frame, 
Against his praise to stirre up enmitye. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. i. 23. 
The edict uf tJie emperor Julianus . . . was esteemed 
and accounted a ... pernicious engine and machination 
against the Christian faith. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 69. 
I must visit Contarino ; upon that 
Depends an emiine shall weigh up my losses, 
Were they sunk low as hell. 
Wi-bnttr, Devil's Law-Case, ii. 4. 
