Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

engaged

 adjective
     
en‧gaged
1 if two people are engaged, they have agreed to marry:
Have you heard? Sally and Ray are getting engaged.
engaged to
Kate's engaged to Mark.
2 British English if you call someone on the telephone and their line is engaged, they are already speaking to someone else [= busy American English]
She rang Mrs Tavett but the line was engaged.
engaged tone/signal (=the sound you hear when the phone is engaged)
3 British English written a public toilet that is engaged is being used [≠ vacant]
4

be otherwise engaged

formal to be unable to do something because you are doing something else
WORD FOCUS: married WORD FOCUS: married
single not married
divorced if you are divorced, you have officially ended your marriage to someone
engaged if you are engaged to be married, you have formally agreed to marry someone in the future
widowed if you are widowed, your husband or wife has died
be living together to be living as a couple in the same house without being married
spouse formal the person you are married to
partner your husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend
marital status whether you are single or married - used on official forms

➔ See also married
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE