engagement

n.

1. The act of engaging or the state of being engaged.
2. Betrothal.
3. Something that serves to engage; a pledge.
4. A promise or agreement to be at a particular place at a particular time.
5. 1. Employment, especially for a specified time.
   2. A specific, often limited, period of employment.
6. A hostile encounter; a battle.
7. The condition of being in gear.

SYNONYMS   engagement, appointment, assignation, date, rendezvous, tryst. These nouns denote a commitment to appear at a certain time and place: a business engagement; a dental appointment; a secret assignation; a date to play tennis; a rendezvous of agents at the border; a lovers' tryst.

noun

1. A commitment, as for a performance by an entertainer: booking. Slang gig. See performing arts.
2. The act or condition of being pledged to marry: betrothal, espousal, troth. See marriage/unmarried.
3. A declaration that one will or will not do a certain thing: assurance, covenant, guarantee, guaranty, pledge, plight², promise, solemn word, vow, warrant, word, word of honor. See obligation.
4. A commitment to appear at a certain time and place: appointment, assignation, date, rendezvous, tryst. See agree/disagree.
5. The act of employing for wages: employment, hire. See get/lose, work/play.
6. A hostile encounter between opposing military forces: action, battle, combat. See conflict/cooperation.

n

Definition: battle
Antonyms: surrender

n

Definition: pledge to marry
Antonyms: break-up, disengagement

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n. a fight or battle between armed forces.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A binding, pledging, or coming together. A mutual pact, contract, or agreement.

An engagement to marry is a bilateral contract between two people whereby they mutually promise to marry one another. Formerly, a breach of the engagement to marry was a cause of action in several jurisdictions, but this is not true today.

An engagement letter is a clear delineation of an agreement that covers a particular project or employment. An attorney can require a client to sign such a letter to indicate that the person has been employed to perform specifically designated tasks.

(DOD) 1. In air defense, an attack with guns or air-to-air missiles by an interceptor aircraft, or the launch of an air defense missile by air defense artillery and the missile's subsequent travel to intercept. 2. A tactical conflict, usually between opposing lower echelons maneuver forces. See also battle; campaign.

IN BRIEF: n. - Employment for performers or performing groups that lasts for a limited period of time; A hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; Act or state of betrothal; appointment.

I couldn't attend the party because I had a previous engagement.

Quotes:

"Pardon me, you are not engaged to any one. When you do become engaged to some one, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself." - Oscar Wilde

"No sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy; and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage, which they will climb incontinent, or else be incontinent before marriage." - William Shakespeare

"Can you support the expense of a husband, hussy, in gaming, drinking and whoring? Have you money enough to carry on the daily quarrels of man and wife about who shall squander most?" - John Gay

"I am about to be married, and am of course in all the misery of a man in pursuit of happiness." - Lord Byron

"An engaged woman is always more agreeable than a disengaged. She is satisfied with herself. Her cares are over, and she feels that she may exert all her powers of pleasing without suspicion. All is safe with a lady engaged; no harm can be done." - Jane Austen

i. In air defense, an attack with guns or air-to-air missiles by an interceptor aircraft, or the launch of an air defense missile by air defense artillery and the missile’s subsequent travel to intercept.
ii. Engagement of an arrester barrier or arrester by an aircraft. See aircraft arresting barrier.

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Engagement

Dansk (Danish)
n. - ansættelse, forlovelse, aftale, sammenstød, træfning, engagement, optagethed

Nederlands (Dutch)
treffen, afspraak, verloving, belofte, engagement, financiële verplichting, betrokkenheid, ingeschakeld, vijandelijke ontmoeting

Français (French)
n. - rendez-vous, fiançailles, contrat de fiançailles, engagement (d'un acteur), obligation, promesse, (Mil) action, combat, engagement

Deutsch (German)
n. - Verabredung, Verlobung, Engagement, Kampf

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - δέσμευση, υποχρέωση, αρραβώνας, μνηστεία, κλείσιμο, "αγκαζάρισμα", υπόσχεση, ηθική δέσμευση, (επαγγελματική κ.λπ.) συνάντηση, ραντεβού, κοινωνική υποχρέωση, (στρατ.) εμπλοκή (σε μάχη), συμπλοκή, πρόσληψη, μίσθωση

Italiano (Italian)
scontro, appuntamento, fidanzamento, promessa

Português (Portuguese)
n. - noivado (m)

Русский (Russian)
найм, обязательство, помолвка, встреча

Español (Spanish)
n. - combate, cita, noviazgo, acuerdo, compromiso, promesa

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förbindelse, möte, förlovning, engagemang

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
诺言, 婚约, 约会

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 諾言, 婚約, 約會

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 약속, 채무, 약혼, 용무, 고용, 교전, 관여

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 約束, 契約, 婚約, 債務, 雇用, かみ合わせ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خطبه, ارتباط, تعهد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮התחייבות, אירוסין, קרב, התקפה, פגישה, התחייבות מוסרית, התקשרות‬

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Engagement Rings	engagement announcements
engagement invitation	engagement invitations