AMUSE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does amuse mean? 

• AMUSE (verb)
  The verb AMUSE has 2 senses:

1. occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion

2. make (somebody) laugh

  Familiarity information: AMUSE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AMUSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they amuse    ... he / she / it amuses   
Past simple: amused   
Past participle: amused   
-ing form: amusing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

amuse; disport; divert

Context example:

The play amused the ladies

Hypernyms (to "amuse" is one way to...):

entertain (provide entertainment for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

Sam cannot amuse Sue
The performance is likely to amuse Sue

Derivation:

amusement (an activity that is diverting and that holds the attention)

amusive (providing enjoyment; pleasantly entertaining)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make (somebody) laugh

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The clown amused the children

Hypernyms (to "amuse" is one way to...):

cheer; cheer up; jolly along; jolly up (cause (somebody) to feel happier or more cheerful)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "amuse"):

convulse (make someone convulse with laughter)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot amuse Sue

Derivation:

amusement (a feeling of delight at being entertained)

amusive (providing enjoyment; pleasantly entertaining)

 Context examples 

Immediately surrounding Mrs Musgrove were the little Harvilles, whom she was sedulously guarding from the tyranny of the two children from the Cottage, expressly arrived to amuse them.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

We smiled again, said amusing things, and waxed optimistic over our situation.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

We obeyed, as in duty bound; Adele wanted to take a seat on my knee, but she was ordered to amuse herself with Pilot.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

What was there to interest or amuse her?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

It was ludicrous, but he was not amused.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I travelled for two years in Tibet, therefore, and amused myself by visiting Lhassa, and spending some days with the head lama.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was a whist player himself, and perhaps might feel that it would not much amuse him to have her for a partner.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

One evening, after the child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I tried to keep her amused and interested.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As it was a rainy day, she went upstairs to amuse herself in one of the large chambers, and took Polly with her for company.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)