Meaning of employ In English

• 0 to have someone work or do a job for you and pay them for it:

  • How many people does your company employ?

  • Can't we employ someone as an assistant to help with all this paperwork?

  • [ + to infinitive ] We've employed a market researcher to find out what people really want from a cable TV system.

  • More people are now employed in service industries than in manufacturing.

• 1 to use something:

  • Sophisticated statistical analysis was employed to obtain these results.

• 2 to spend time doing something:

  • He was busily employed in lacing up his shoes.

• 3 to be working for someone

• 4 to pay someone to work or do a job for you:

  • The factory employs 87 workers.

• 5 to use something for a particular purpose:

  • Jacobs employs this phrase repeatedly.

• 6 to have someone work or do a job for you and pay them for it:

  • The call centre employs over 100 people.

  • employ sb as sth Mr Reid is employed as a lobbyist by the firm.

  • employ sb to do sth The fund employs an investment manager to manage its assets.

  • be employed in sth More than 100 staff currently employed in sales and marketing will lose their jobs.

• 7 to use something:

  • employ sth to do sth The company also employs direct marketing and mail to reach potential customers.

  • Builders today employ more recycled materials than they used to.

• 8 to spend time doing something:

  • We have been employed in updating the catalogue for most of the morning.

• 9 to be working for someone:

  • She has been in the company's employ for twelve years.