employ Hear it!

employ definition

em·ploy (em plo̵i′, im-)

transitive verb

  1. to make use of; use
  2. to keep busy or occupied; take up the attention, time, etc. of; devote to employ oneself in study
  3. to provide work and pay for mining employs fewer men now
  4. to engage the services or labor of for pay; hire

Etymology: ME emploien < OFr emploier < L implicare, to enfold, engage: see imply

noun

  1. the state of being employed, esp. for pay; paid service; employment
  2. Archaic work or occupation

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

employ Synonyms

employ

v.

  1. To make use of

    use, operate, manipulate, apply; see exercise 2, use 1.

  2. To obtain services for pay

    engage, contract, take on; see hire 1. See syn. study at use.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

employ Usage Examples

Object

  • self: Self employed You can claim for the additional costs of working from home.

Subject

  • PCT: Q: Does it make a difference to becoming Chair if the nurse is employed by the PCT rather than by a practice?

Preposition: as

  • clerk: The founding trustee had been employed as a legal clerk and had stored some of the charity's paperwork at their premises.

Adjective complement

  • less: Over 90 % of rural firms employ less than 10 people with most of the craft and rural trade firms employing fewer than five.

Used with why or when

  • whose: A large number of Indian staff are employed whose Italian is very limited.

Preposition: in

  • agriculture: Half of its work force is employed in agriculture.

Preposition: by

  • PCT: Q: Does it make a difference to becoming Chair if the nurse is employed by the PCT rather than by a practice?
employ usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

employ quotes

It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to makethantobuy.Thetaylordoesnot attempttomakehis ownshoe†All ofthemfind itfor their interestto employ their whole industry in a way in which they have some advantage over their neighbours and to purchase with a part of its produce†whatever else they have occasion for† What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom† Would it be a reasonable law to prohibit the importation of all foreign wines, merely to encourage the making of claret and burgundy in Scotland?

-Smith, Adam

employ quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"employ." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/employ>

APA Style

employ. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/employ

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment