核心詞義
v. 從事（engage的第三人稱單數(shù)）；使從事（某種事業(yè)等） (in)；吸引或引起（注意、興趣等）；與（某人）交戰(zhàn)
知識(shí)擴(kuò)展
詞語(yǔ)辨析
engage，hire
【解說】engage和hire都可以表示“雇用”。它們的區(qū)別在于1.engage的賓語(yǔ)只能是人，而hire的賓語(yǔ)可以是物。例如We hire out vans by the day.我們的貨車按日出租。I've engaged him as my new assistant.我已聘他為我的新助手。2.engage的對(duì)象一般有一技之長(zhǎng)，而hire的對(duì)象則可以是“力工”等。例如He hires out as a house painter in the summer.他在夏天受雇當(dāng)房屋油漆工。He engaged a lawyer to argue his case in court.他請(qǐng)了一位律師來為他出庭辯護(hù)。3.engage所指的雇用時(shí)限一般較長(zhǎng)，而hire可指短期雇用。例如He hired himself to work in the fields for one summer.他曾受雇在田里干一個(gè)夏天的活。He engaged a new secretary.他聘用了一名新秘書。engage，contract，covenant，pledge，promise
【解說】
這組詞都有“允諾”的意思。它們的區(qū)別是promise指作出口頭或書面的許諾，但僅指主觀意愿，并不暗示一定能實(shí)現(xiàn)或有實(shí)現(xiàn)的基礎(chǔ)；engage指在正式或重大場(chǎng)合用誓言、條約等許下有約束力的諾言或作出可以信賴的保證，尤指訂婚；pledge指用行動(dòng)或言語(yǔ)作出莊嚴(yán)的許諾或正式保證；covenant指訂立雙方或多方共同遵守的協(xié)議；contract指訂立慎重并且通常有法律效力的合同或協(xié)議。例如Our son is engaged to a nice young girl.我們的兒子已跟一位漂亮的女孩訂了婚。I covenant to pay5000pounds a year to help rebuild the college.我立約保證每年將付5000英鎊幫助重建學(xué)院。They have pledged that any detail given to them will remain confidential.他們已保證，給他們提供的任何細(xì)節(jié)將予以保密。Many councils are contracting out services such as rubbish collection to private companies as a way of cutting costs.許多市政會(huì)把垃圾收集這樣的服務(wù)項(xiàng)目包給私人公司以減少費(fèi)用。