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Engross   /ɪngrˈoʊs/   Listen
verb
Engross  v. t.  (past & past part. engrossed; pres. part. engrossing)  
1.
To make gross, thick, or large; to thicken; to increase in bulk or quantity. (Obs.) "Waves... engrossed with mud." "Not sleeping, to engross his idle body."
2.
To amass. (Obs.) "To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf."
3.
To copy or write in a large hand (en gross, i. e., in large); to write a fair copy of in distinct and legible characters; as, to engross a deed or like instrument on parchment. "Some period long past, when clerks engrossed their stiff and formal chirography on more substantial materials." "Laws that may be engrossed on a finger nail."
4.
To seize in the gross; to take the whole of; to occupy the attention completely; to absorb; as, the subject engrossed all his thoughts.
5.
To purchase either the whole or large quantities of, for the purpose of enhancing the price and making a profit; hence, to take or assume in undue quantity, proportion, or degree; as, to engross commodities in market; to engross power.
Engrossed bill (Legislation), one which has been plainly engrossed on parchment, with all its amendments, preparatory to final action on its passage.
Engrossing hand (Penmanship), a fair, round style of writing suitable for engrossing legal documents, legislative bills, etc.
Synonyms: To absorb; swallow up; imbibe; consume; exhaust; occupy; forestall; monopolize. See Absorb.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Engross" Quotes from Famous Books



... govern'd the Prizes of all things, and nothing could be Bought or Sold to Advantage but thro' their hands; and as the Profit was prodigious, their number encreas'd accordingly, so that Business seem'd engross'd by these Men, and they govern'd ...
— The Consolidator • Daniel Defoe

... construction. And this is natural. The play is meant primarily for the theatre; and theatrically the outward conflict, with its influence on the fortunes of the hero, is the aspect which first catches, if it does not engross, attention. For the average play-goer of every period the main interest of Hamlet has probably lain in the vicissitudes of his long duel with the King; and the question, one may almost say, has been which ...
— Shakespearean Tragedy - Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth • A. C. Bradley

... tract of crown land and thereby supported his aged mother. Faithful to his duties, he had never a thought of discontent, but was willing to plod on in the way his father had gone before him. Filial affection, however, did not so far engross him as to prevent his casting admiring glances on the lovely Katrine, daughter of old Rauchen, the miller; and no wonder, for she was as fascinating a damsel as ever dazzled and perplexed a bashful lover. She had admiration enough, for to see her was to love her; many of the village youngsters ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 12, October, 1858 • Various

... begun with some lecture of morality that is read to them; but it is so short, that it is not tedious nor uneasy to them to hear it: from hence the old men take occasion to entertain those about them, with some useful and pleasant enlargements; but they do not engross the whole discourse so to themselves, during their meals, that the younger may not put in for a share: on the contrary, they engage them to talk, that so they may in that free way of conversation find out the force of every one's spirit, and observe his temper. They despatch their dinners ...
— Ideal Commonwealths • Various

... and in his third to the Standing Committee. At this moment a decision was taken to make a determined effort for new buildings, and it was suggested that he should stand for the secretaryship. Declining this as likely to engross more time than he could spare, he was put forward for the Vice-Presidency, and elected at the beginning of October, 1863. His prominence in the negotiations which followed may be inferred from the fact that ...
— The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke V1 • Stephen Gwynn


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