employ

verb em·ploy \ im-ˈplȯi , em- \

Updated on: 24 Apr 2018

transitive verb

1 a : to make use of (someone or something inactive)

employ a pen for sketching

b : to use (something, such as time) advantageously

a job that employed her skills

c (1) : to use or engage the services of

(2) : to provide with a job that pays wages or a salary

2 : to devote to or direct toward a particular activity or person

employed all her energies to help the poor

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employer

noun

See employ defined for English-language learners

See employ defined for kids

Examples of employ in a Sentence

The company is accused of employing questionable methods to obtain the contract.
You should find better ways to employ your time.
I had to employ a lawyer to review the contract.
It's a small company, employing a staff of only 20.

Recent Examples of employ from the Web

Los Alamos operates with a roughly $2.5 billion budget authority this fiscal year and employs more than 11,400 people.

— lindsay ellis, Houston Chronicle, "Texas A&M, UT may compete over Los Alamos bid," 26 Oct. 2017
And there’s a long-running but unconfirmed tale that Caesar’s army employed wound-licking dogs.

— erika engelhaupt, National Geographic, "How Dog and Cat 'Kisses' Can Turn Deadly," 24 Oct. 2017
The facility is expected to be under construction by early next year and open by 2019, eventually employing up to 500 people, officials said.

— gordon dickson, star-telegram, "Why Louis Vuitton chose this ranch south of Fort Worth for a factory," 20 Oct. 2017
The company, which still employs the Coxes at its flagship brewery in Bend, added breweries this year in San Diego and Denver.

— pam kragen, Pacific San Diego Magazine, "What’s in a number? Good food, cocktails," 6 Oct. 2017
Dennig said the store will employ up to 40 people and be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

— sheldon s. shafer, The Courier-Journal, "Redeveloped Whiskey Row's first major tenant, Duluth Trading Co., will open in November," 3 Oct. 2017
Investigators didn't say if Lubin Cadet is related to the girl or if she is employed by the hotel.

— jason kelly, AJC.com, "Woman accused of leaving toddler in unlocked car at Disney resort leaves jail," 26 Sep. 2017
In terms of law-enforcement, Michaud said police officers employ a variety of methods, including using radar guns or driving alongside cars, to measure speed.

— jessica lee, The Seattle Times, "Wait — what are speed limits in Seattle? Confusion remains over city’s reduced speeds," 25 Sep. 2017
As the world's leading beauty company, L'Oreal generated sales amounting to 25.8 billion euros in 2016 and employs 89,300 people worldwide, according to the company.

— sylvie corbet, Cosmopolitan, "The Richest Woman in the World, L'Oreal Heiress Liliane Bettencourt, Has Died," 22 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'employ.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of employ

Middle English emploien, from Anglo-French empleier, emploier, emplier to entangle, apply, make use of, from Latin implicare to enfold, involve, from in- + plicare to fold — more at ply

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

employ Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of employ

use, employ, utilize mean to put into service especially to attain an end. use implies availing oneself of something as a means or instrument to an end.

- willing to use any means to achieve her ends

employ suggests the use of a person or thing that is available but idle, inactive, or disengaged.

- looking for better ways to employ their skills

utilize may suggest the discovery of a new, profitable, or practical use for something.

- an old wooden bucket utilized as a planter

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

employ

noun em·ploy \ im-ˈplȯi , ˈim-ˌplȯi , ˈem-ˌplȯi \

1 a : use, purpose

b : occupation, job

2 : the state of being employed

in the city's employ

See employ defined for English-language learners

Examples of employ in a Sentence

while you're under our employ, you can't do outside work for our competitors

Recent Examples of employ from the Web

But, there are many stupider things written by even smarter people who continue to keep their employs.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "The Supremacy of the Internet Mob," 19 Apr. 2018
Co-founder Mary Ann McCready had watched during her employ at CBS Records in the 1980s as numerous acts racked up huge paychecks, saved little and kept overspending even after their commercial peak years ended.

— tom roland, Billboard, "Flood, Bumstead And the Country Artist's Conflict: Seeking Wealth While Singing About Poverty," 3 Apr. 2018
Trouble is, the therapist is under the employ of a hospital that has a vested interest in admitting patients for 72-hour holds and draining insurance money from them.

— richard lawson, HWD, "Claire Foy Gives a Star Turn in Harrowing Unsane," 23 Mar. 2018
Patrick once convinced Nanny Marta that their rabbit’s poop was a Milk Dud and had made fun of Marta for eating Bunzo’s poo for the rest of her employ.

— jessica knoll, Glamour, "The Governor’s Daughter Has a Big Problem," 20 Mar. 2018
Those officials believe the routers were compromised by attackers in the employ of the GRU, Russia's largest foreign intelligence agency.

— sean gallagher, Ars Technica, "Russia accused of “false flag” attack on Olympic opening," 26 Feb. 2018
The parent company of Snapchat is planning to trim about 10% of the engineers in its employ, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

— dan gallagher, WSJ, "Snap’s Nip and Tuck," 8 Mar. 2018
His lead characters are a couple of suitably cynical and classically hard-drinking newspaper reporters named Mike Hodge and Clement Parlow, who both served in WWI and are now in the employ of the Chicago Tribune.

— rick kogan, chicagotribune.com, "David Mamet's new book belongs on your shelf of Chicago classics," 28 Feb. 2018
Facebook, Google and Microsoft combined employ about 700 people in Iowa, the Des Moines Register reported in September.

— david staats, idahostatesman, "Companies spend billions on data farms in other states. Not Idaho. Here’s why," 19 Feb. 2018

First Known Use of employ

1679

in the meaning defined at sense 2

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

employ Synonyms

Synonyms

employment, engagement, hire;

Antonyms

joblessness, nonemployment, unemployment;

Near Antonyms

boot, discharge, dismissal, firing, removal, sack, severance;

demotion, suspension;

furlough, layoff, leave, liberty, retirement;

incumbency, tenure;

occupation, place, position, post, situation, work;

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

EMPLOY Defined for English Language Learners

employ

verb

: to use (something) for a particular purpose or to do something
: to use or direct (something, such as your time or effort) in order to achieve a particular goal
: to use or get the services of (someone) to do a particular job