US /ɪnˈɡɹəʊs/ UK /ɪnˈɡɹəʊs/
verb Freq #188608

Meanings

  1. 1
    verb

    To take up all of someone's attention and interest.

    The mystery novel engrossed her for the entire weekend.

  2. 2
    verb

    To devote yourself fully to something.

    He engrossed himself in his research for months.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 verb · to take up all of someone's... engage
2 verb · to devote yourself fully to... plunge
Word family
Forms engrossesengrossment
Derived forms engrossingengrossment
Related forms gross

Etymology

From Middle English engrossen, from Anglo-Norman engrosser (“to gather in large quantities, draft something in final form”); partly from the phrase en gros (“in bulk, in quantity, at wholesale”), from en- + gros; and partly from Medieval Latin ingrossō (“thicken, write something large and in bold lettering”, v.), from in- + grossus (“great, big, thick”), from Old High German grōz (“big, thick, coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“large, great, thick, coarse grained, unrefined”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrewə- (“to fell, put down, fall in”). More at in-,…

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Topics

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