Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To hold the attention of (someone) with something amusing or diverting. synonym: amuse.
- intransitive verb To extend hospitality toward.
- intransitive verb To consider; contemplate.
- intransitive verb To hold in mind; harbor.
- intransitive verb Archaic To continue with; maintain.
- intransitive verb Obsolete To employ; hire.
- intransitive verb Obsolete To give admittance to; receive.
- intransitive verb To show hospitality to guests.
- intransitive verb To provide entertainment.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To maintain; keep up; hold.
- To maintain physically; provide for; support; hence, to take into service.
- To provide comfort or gratification for; care for by hospitality, attentions, or diversions; gratify or amuse; hence, to receive and provide for, as a guest, freely or for pay; furnish with accommodation, refreshment, or diversion: as, to
entertain one's friends at dinner, or with music and conversation; to be entertained at an inn or at the theater. - To provide for agreeably, as the passage of time; while away; divert.
- To take in; receive; give admittance to; admit.
- To take into the mind; take into consideration; consider with reference to decision or action; give heed to; harbor: as, to
entertain a proposal. - To hold in the mind; maintain; cherish: as, to
entertain decided opinions; he entertains the belief that he is inspired. - To engage; give occupation to, as in a contest.
- To treat; consider; regard.
- Synonyms Divert, Beguile. See
amuse . - To exercise hospitality; give entertainments; receive company: as, he entertains generously.
- noun Entertainment.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To receive, or provide entertainment for, guests.
- noun obsolete Entertainment.
- transitive verb To be at the charges of; to take or keep in one's service; to maintain; to support; to harbor; to keep.
- transitive verb To give hospitable reception and maintenance to; to receive at one's board, or into one's house; to receive as a guest.
- transitive verb To engage the attention of agreeably; to amuse with that which makes the time pass pleasantly; to divert
- transitive verb To give reception to; to receive, in general; to receive and take into consideration; to admit, treat, or make use of.
- transitive verb obsolete To meet or encounter, as an enemy.
- transitive verb To keep, hold, or maintain in the mind with favor; to keep in the mind; to harbor; to cherish.
- transitive verb obsolete To lead on; to bring along; to introduce.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To amuse (someone); said especially of a professional
entertainer . - verb transitive and intransitive To have someone over at one's home for a party or visit.
- verb transitive To have a thought in mind.
- noun obsolete
Entertainment .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb take into consideration, have in view
- verb maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)
- verb provide entertainment for
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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By and large, the only “something” that other countries might entertain is the capacity to shovel the S#!
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Anyone who has to use profanity to make their point or to entertain is only revealing his or her own limitations. — ravenswing2
Easing Off Online Obscenities - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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If there was ever of picture of a total stalemate, that it is, but the one thing the MSM does not want to entertain is any suggestion that the Qana incident was staged by Hezbollah.
The "Green Helmet" mystery continues Richard 2006
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Now, Wired News reports that the BBC, which operates under a royal charter to inform, educate, and entertain, is launching “iCan,” a service to support citizen activism.
Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » BBC To Launch Citizen Activism Site 2003
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They can't be content just to be caretakers, especially not when a waning sport needs competitors whose desire to entertain is eclipsed only by their desire to win.
USATODAY.com - Commentary: Sampras arrived to a bang, left to a whisper 2003
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But when he plays them, he should do so with the bogey-and-wave crowd, with the aging champs here to entertain from the deep end of the traps.
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Unlike with many street performers, I do not have to place quotes around the word entertain, because they're actually pretty funny.
Macleans.ca Scott Feschuk 2010
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It's a narrative art that strives not to change or enlighten or broaden or reorient -- not necessarily even to "entertain" -- but merely and always to engage, to appeal to.
David Foster Wallace Thought Readers Are Smart And Tolstoy Was His Role Model 2010
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It's a narrative art that strives not to change or enlighten or broaden or reorient -- not necessarily even to "entertain" -- but merely and always to engage, to appeal to.
David Foster Wallace Thought Readers Are Smart And Tolstoy Was His Role Model 2010
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It's a narrative art that strives not to change or enlighten or broaden or reorient--not necessarily even to "entertain"--but merely and always to engage, to appeal to.
David Foster Wallace Thought Readers Are Smart And Tolstoy Was His Role Model The Huffington Post News Team 2010
sarra commented on the word entertain
rather than its mundane meaning of "amuse", I like its subtleties: to entertain his presence, to entertain such an idea, &c. — etymologically "to hold mutually"
January 18, 2007