engagement

engagement
en‧gage‧ment /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒmənt/ noun
1.  BEFORE MARRIAGE  [countable] an agreement between two people to marry, or the period of time they are engaged
    engagement of/to
    Their engagement was announced in the paper.
    Tony was stunned when Lisa suddenly broke off their engagement (=finished it).
    engagement ring (=a ring that a man gives a woman to show that they are engaged)
2.  ARRANGEMENT TO DO SOMETHING  [countable] an official arrangement to do something, especially one that is related to your work
    official/public/royal etc engagement
    The princess will continue to carry out royal engagements.
    This is his only public speaking engagement on the tour.
    His excuse of a prior engagement was accepted.
3.  INVOLVEMENT  [uncountable] when you become involved with someone or something in order to understand them
    engagement with/in
    a strategy of engagement and cooperation with China
    Many students pass without any real engagement in learning.
4.  FIGHTING  [uncountable and countable] technical fighting between armies etc:
    military rules of engagement
5.  EMPLOYMENT  [uncountable and countable] formal an official arrangement to employ or pay someone to do a particular job:
    Please sign to indicate your acceptance of the terms of engagement.
6.  MACHINE PARTS  [uncountable] the fitting together of the working parts of a machine
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 1)

■ verbs
   ▪ announce your engagement (=tell people about it) The couple are expected to announce their engagement today.
   ▪ break off your engagement (=suddenly end it) Were you surprised when Toni broke off your engagement?
■ adjectives
   ▪ long (=a long period between getting engaged and getting married) Neither of them wanted a long engagement.
   ▪ short They were married last month after a short engagement.
■ engagement + NOUN
   ▪ engagement ring Jerry bought her a beautiful sapphire engagement ring.
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 2)

■ verbs
   ▪ have an engagement I don't have any engagements tomorrow.
   ▪ carry out an engagement Last year, the princess carried out over 300 official engagements.
   ▪ cancel an engagement He instructed his secretary to cancel all his engagements.
■ adjectives
   ▪ an official engagement This is the Prime Minister's first official engagement since the elections.
   ▪ a public engagement She appeared with her husband at many public engagements.
   ▪ an important engagement He had an important engagement with his solicitor.
   ▪ a previous/prior engagement (=one that is already arranged) I'm sorry I can't be there, but I have a previous engagement.
   ▪ a speaking engagement (=one in which you give a speech) I've been turning down speaking engagements to concentrate on writing my memoirs.