EMPLOY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does employ mean? 

• EMPLOY (noun)
  The noun EMPLOY has 1 sense:

1. the state of being employed or having a job

  Familiarity information: EMPLOY used as a noun is very rare.

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

1. put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose

2. engage or hire for work

  Familiarity information: EMPLOY used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EMPLOY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of being employed or having a job

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

employ; employment

Context example:

he was in the employ of the city

Hypernyms ("employ" is a kind of...):

state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)

Derivation:

employ (engage or hire for work)

• EMPLOY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they employ    ... he / she / it employs   
Past simple: employed   
Past participle: employed   
-ing form: employing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

apply; employ; use; utilise; utilize

Context example:

He doesn't know how to use a computer

Cause:

apply; go for; hold (be pertinent or relevant or applicable)

Verb group:

apply; practice; use (avail oneself to)

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

play (employ in a game or in a specific position)

fall back; recur; resort (have recourse to)

implement (apply in a manner consistent with its purpose or design)

put to work; work (cause to work)

share (use jointly or in common)

take (travel or go by means of a certain kind of transportation, or a certain route)

enjoy (have benefit from)

exercise; exert (put to use)

extend; strain (use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity)

exploit; tap (draw from; make good use of)

exploit; work (use or manipulate to one's advantage)

recycle; reprocess; reuse (use again after processing)

overdrive; overuse (make use of too often or too extensively)

commit; consecrate; dedicate; devote; give (give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause)

play (use or move)

pull out all the stops (use all resources available)

assign; put (attribute or give)

ply (use diligently)

address (address or apply oneself to something, direct one's efforts towards something, such as a question)

waste (use inefficiently or inappropriately)

misapply; misuse (apply to a wrong thing or person; apply badly or incorrectly)

avail (use to one's advantage)

cannibalise; cannibalize (use parts of something to repair something else)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They employ the animals

Derivation:

employment (the act of using)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Engage or hire for work

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

employ; engage; hire

Context example:

How many people has she employed?

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

featherbed (hire more workers than are necessary)

fill (appoint someone to (a position or a job))

engage (ask to represent; of legal counsel)

ship (hire for work on a ship)

contract; sign; sign on; sign up (engage by written agreement)

rat (employ scabs or strike breakers in)

farm out; job; subcontract (arranged for contracted work to be done by others)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

employ (the state of being employed or having a job)

employee (a worker who is hired to perform a job)

employer (a person or firm that employs workers)

employment (the act of giving someone a job)

 Context examples 

If you are self-employed and are up for a project, this full moon could help you to land it—you seem to be presenting yourself very professionally.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Five hundred workmen were employed to make two sails to my boat, according to my directions, by quilting thirteen folds of their strongest linen together.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

An employment class consisting of all persons employed in the military.

(Military Occupation, NCI Thesaurus)

To determine the surface locations of the geysers, researchers employed the same process of triangulation used historically to survey geological features on Earth, such as mountains.

(101 Geysers on Icy Saturn Moon, NASA)

Beta-cyclodextrin is employed for numerous applications to enhance solubility and availability of various water-soluble and water-insoluble pharmacological agents.

(Beta-methyl Cyclodextrin, NCI Thesaurus)

All this work was my work, and of the boys employed upon it I was one.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Loop or tube procedures are most often employed.

(Ileostomy, NCI Thesaurus)

To bud from infected cells, HIV-1 employs several host proteins such as endosomal sorting protein Tsg101, which functions in the Vps pathway.

(HIV Budding, NCI Thesaurus)

The microscopic study of characteristic tissue abnormalities by employing various cytochemical and immunocytochemical stains.

(Histopathologic Examination, NCI Thesaurus)

A person employed in an office who performs various tasks such as keeping records or accounts, filing, letter writing, or transcribing.

(Clerk, NCI Thesaurus)