engaged

«engaged» in Mova's school dictionary: Having agreed to marry someone — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (past of «engage»: engage, engages, engaged, engaging); adjective (engaged)

meaning for a pupil

1) (adjective) Having agreed to marry someone. tree →

2) (adjective, UK) Being used, busy (the toilet is engaged; the phone line is engaged). tree →

3) (adjective) Busy with or interested in an activity (engaged in learning). tree →

4) Got someone's attention or interest. tree →

5) (formal) Employed someone; or began fighting with an enemy. tree →

6) Locked a machine part into place (engaged the gears). tree →

sense in the lessons

In family life, «my aunt got engaged». In the UK, «engaged» on a toilet door or phone means occupied or busy (US: «busy» or «occupied»). In school, pupils who are engaged pay attention. Phrases: «get engaged», «engaged to», «engaged in», «the line is engaged».

examples

• My sister got engaged to her boyfriend. tree →
• Sorry, the toilet is engaged. tree →
• I rang Gran but the line was engaged. tree →
• The pupils were engaged in a science project. tree →
• The story engaged the children from the first page. tree →
• The driver engaged first gear. tree →
• The firm engaged a new cook. tree →
• Shall we be engaged to each other? tree →

note

Noun «engagement» (an engagement ring). UK «engaged» on a door = US «occupied». «Engaged TO someone» (to marry), «engaged IN something» (doing). Opposite on doors: vacant, free.

In the corpora

• Being engaged means two people have promised to marry each other, and a ring is often given as a sign of the promise.

Trees and pragmatics

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