employ

---

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪmˈplɔɪ/, /ɛmˈplɔɪ/

Noun

employ (plural employs)

1. The state of being an employee; employment.

   The school district has six thousand teachers in its employ.

Synonyms

• employment
• hire

Verb

employ (employs, present participle employing; past and past participle employed)

1. To hire (somebody for work or a job).

   Yesterday our local garage employed a new mechanic.

   • 1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 547 ↗

     Andrew Houſtoun and Adam Muſhet, being Tackſmen of the Excize, did Imploy Thomas Rue to be their Collector, and gave him a Sallary of 30. pound Sterling for a year.

2. To use (somebody for a job, or something for a task).

   The burglar employed a jemmy to get in.

   • 1598, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act 1, Scene iii:

     Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you / against the general enemy Ottoman.

   • March 30, 1715, Joseph Addison, The Freeloader No. 29

     This is a day in which the thoughts […] ought to be employed on serious subjects.

3. To make busy.
   • 1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene viii:

     Let it not enter in your mind of love: / Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts / to courtship and such fair ostents of love / as shall conveniently become you there

Synonyms

• (to give someone work) hire
• (to put into use) apply, use, utilize

Translations

• French: employer, embaucher, recruter
• German: einstellen, anstellen, anwerben
• Italian: impiegare, ingaggiare
• Portuguese: contratar
• Russian: нанима́ть
• Spanish: contratar, emplear

Translations

• German: einsetzen, benutzen, verwenden
• Italian: impiegare
• Portuguese: empregar
• Russian: испо́льзовать
• Spanish: emplear

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003