- engagement
- noun1 appointmentADJECTIVE▪ previous, prior▪
Mrs Meyer regrets that she is unable to attend owing to a previous engagement.
▪ important▪ business, official, public, social▪ royal▪ dinner, lunch▪ speakingVERB + ENGAGEMENT▪ have▪ keep▪It is important that I keep this engagement.
▪ carry out (formal, esp. BrE)▪The chairman will carry out no official public engagements during the month of August.
▪ cancel▪The president was forced to cancel all public engagements.
PREPOSITION▪ engagement with▪He had an important engagement with his financial adviser.
2 agreement to get marriedADJECTIVE▪ long▪ brokenVERB + ENGAGEMENT▪ announce▪ celebrate▪ break (esp. AmE), break off, cancel, endENGAGEMENT + NOUN▪ ring▪ partyPREPOSITION▪ engagement to▪He announced his engagement to his long-time girlfriend.
3 being involvedADJECTIVE▪ constructive, effective▪ active▪ intense, passionate, serious▪his serious intellectual engagement with this issue
▪ creative, emotional, imaginative, intellectual▪ civic (AmE), political▪Higher education can contribute to civic engagement.
▪the decline in political engagement
VERB + ENGAGEMENT▪ encourage, promote (esp. AmE)▪Her church promoted civic engagement. (AmE)
▪ facilitate (esp. AmE)▪ increasePREPOSITION▪ engagement in▪the lack of engagement in politics
▪ engagement with▪Feminist criticism is a starting point for a deeper engagement with the text.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.