engross
engross Lexical Profile
engross Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To absorb all the attention or interest of someone; to occupy completely.
"The intricate historical novel managed to engross her for the entire flight."
To prepare the final, authoritative text of a legal document, statute, or legislative bill, historically by writing it out in a large, clear hand.
"Once the amendments were approved, the clerk was instructed to engross the bill prior to the final vote."
To buy up the whole or a large part of the supply of a commodity in order to monopolize the market and control prices (chiefly historical).
"Sixteenth-century laws strictly penalized merchants who attempted to engross grain during a poor harvest."
Word Nuance & Usage
In modern usage, 'engross' is most frequently used in the passive construction 'be engrossed in' followed by a noun or gerund.
• Rhymes for engross
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Anglo-French 'engrosser', from the phrase 'en gros' meaning 'in large letters' or 'in wholesale quantity', from Old French 'gros' (large, thick). Its original senses of writing legal documents in large, fair script and buying up whole supplies later evolved into the figurative sense of absorbing someone's entire attention.