employ

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To engage the services of; put to work: agreed to employ the job applicant.
2. v. To provide with gainful work: factories that employ thousands.
3. v. To put to use or service. See Synonyms at use.
4. v. To devote (time, for example) to an activity or purpose: employed several months in learning Swahili.
5. n. The state of being employed: in the employ of the city.
6. n. Archaic Occupation.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To inclose; infold.
2. To give occupation to; make use of the time, attention, or labor of; keep busy or at work; use as an agent.
3. To make use of as an instrument or means; apply to any purpose: as, to employ medicines in curing diseases.
4. To occupy; use; apply or devote to an object; pass in occupation: as, to employ an hour, a day, or a week; to employ one's life.
5. Synonyms Employ, Hire. Hire and employ are words of different meaning. To hire is to engage in service for wages. The word does not imply dignity; it is not customary to speak of hiring a teacher or a pastor; we hire a man for wages; we employ him for wages or a salary. To employ is thus a word of wider signification. A man hired to labor is employed, but a man may be employed in a work who is not hired; yet the presumption is that the one employing pays. Employ expresses continuous occupation more often than hire does.
6. n. Occupation; employment.

Wiktionary

1. n. The state of being an employee; employment.
2. v. to hire (somebody for work or a job)
3. v. to use (a person for a job)
4. v. to make busy

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. obsolete To inclose; to infold.
2. v. To use; to have in service; to cause to be engaged in doing something; -- often followed by in, about, on, or upon, and sometimes by to; as: (a) To make use of, as an instrument, a means, a material, etc., for a specific purpose; to apply
3. v. To occupy; as, to employ time in study.
4. v. To have or keep at work; to give employment or occupation to; to intrust with some duty or behest.
5. n. That which engages or occupies a person; fixed or regular service or business; employment.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose
2. n. the state of being employed or having a job
3. v. engage or hire for work