employ

«employ» in Mova's school dictionary: to give them a job and pay them — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (employ, employs, employed, employing); noun (employ — formal, «in the employ of»)

meaning for a pupil

1) To employ someone is to give them a job and pay them. tree →

2) (formal) To employ something is to use it: employ a method. tree →

3) To employ yourself means to keep yourself busy doing something. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and maths money problems, a company employs workers and pays them wages. In formal exam language «Employ a suitable method» means use one. Phrases: be employed by, employ a strategy.

examples

• The bakery employs six people. tree →
• My mum is employed by the council. tree →
• The factory employs 200 workers. tree →
• (formal) Employ a suitable method to solve the problem. tree →
• They employed a builder to fix the roof. tree →
• The shop employs extra staff at Christmas. tree →
• You can employ yourself in embroidering your wedding gown. tree →

note

Regular verb. Nouns: employer (the boss who pays), employee (the worker), employment (having a job); opposite: unemployed. In maths: total wages = number employed × pay each.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «employ» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.