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To employ. [Obs.] Skelton.

An agent employed to advance, in a covert manner, the interests of his employers; one sent out by any power that is at war with another, to create dissatisfaction among the people of the latter. Buzzing emissaries fill the ears Of listening crowds with jealousies and fears. Dryden.

The profit arising from office, employment, or labor; gain; compensation; advantage; perquisites, fees, or salary. A long . . . enjoyment of the emoluments of office. Bancroft.

in-. For ease of pronunciation it is commonly changed to em- before p, b, and m, as in employ, embody, emmew. It is sometimes used to give a causal force, as in enable, enfeeble, to cause to be, or to make, able, or feeble; and sometimes merely gives an intensive force, as in enchasten. See In-.

ountry; native; domestic; popular; common; -- said especially of the written characters employed by the common people of ancient Egypt, in distinction from the hieroglyphics. See Demotic.

countered at Waterloo. I will encounter with Andronicus. Shak. Perception and judgment, employed in the investigation of all truth, have in the first place to encounter with particulars. Tatham.

the attainment of an object; a systematic or continuous attempt; an effort; a trial. To employ all my endeavor to obey you. Sir P. Sidney. To do one's endeavor, to do one's duty; to put forth strenuous efforts to attain an object; -- a phrase derived from the Middle English phrase "to do one's dever" (duty). "Mr. Prynn…

To employ the attention and efforts of; to occupy; to engross; to draw on. Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage. Pope. Taking upon himself the difficult task of engaging him in conversation. Hawthorne.

Occupied; employed; busy.

That which engages; engrossing occupation; employment of the attention; obligation by pledge, promise, or contract; an enterprise embarked in; as, his engagements prevented his acceptance of any office. Religion, which is the chief engagement of our league. Milton.

To secure the support and aid of; to employ in advancing interest; as, to enlist persons in the cause of truth, or in a charitable enterprise.

nt; whoever undertakes on his own account an industrial enterprise in which workmen are employed. F. A. Walker.

tion, to another; climax; e. g., "He not only spared his enemies, but continued them in employment; not only continued, but advanced them." Johnson.

The employment of a knight-errant. Johnson.

The practice or employment of spies; the practice of watching the words and conduct of others, to make discoveries, as spies or secret emissaries; secret watching.

of yellow tears, produced chiefly by the African Euphorbia resinifrea. It was formerly employed medicinally, but was found so violent in its effects that its use is nearly abandoned.

common; usual; as, an everyday suit or clothes. The mechanical drudgery of his everyday employment. Sir. J. Herchel.

The act of exercising; a setting in action or practicing; employment in the proper mode of activity; exertion; application; use; habitual activity; occupation, in general; practice. exercise of the important function confided by the constitution to the legislature. Jefferson. O we will walk this world, Yoked in all exe…

Capable of being exercised, employed, or enforced; as, the authority of a magistrate is exercisible within his jurisdiction.

am (Steam Engine), steam which is allowed to escape from the cylinder after having been employed to produce motion of the piston. -- Exhaust valve (Steam Engine), a valve that lets exhaust steam escape out of a cylinder.