Definition of: employ

(im·ploi′) v.t.
1. To hire; engage the services of.
2. To provide work and livelihood for; have as employees.
3. To make use of as a means or instrument: to employ cunning.
4. To devote or apply: to employ one's energies in research.
—noun The state of being employed; service. [<F employer <L in- in + plicare fold. Doublet of IMPLY.]
—em·ploy′a·ble adjective
—em·ployed′ adjective Synonyms (verb): engage, engross, hire, use. In general terms it may be said that to employ is to devote to one's purpose, to use is to render subservient to one's purpose; what is used is viewed as more absolutely an instrument than what is employed; a merchant employs a clerk; he uses pen and paper; hence, use, as applied to persons, inclines to the derogatory sense; as, The conspirators used him as a go–between. That which is used is often consumed in the using; as, We used twenty tons of coal last winter; in such cases we could not substitute employ. A person may be employed in his own work or in that of another; in the latter case the service is always understood to be for pay. In this connection employ is a word of more dignity than hire; a general is employed in his country's service; a mercenary adventurer is hired to fight; hire now implies that the one hired works directly and primarily for the pay. See OCCUPY, RETAIN.