engross
/ɪnˈɡrəʊs
/ /ɛnˈɡrəʊs/- Brooke rolled her eyes and deliberately turned her back to him, pretending to be suddenly engrossed in a fascinating conversation with Jane.
- Just then, a silver-haired man with dancing eyes enters the pub and he and Martyn are soon engrossed in conversation about one of his other big loves, fishing.
- Meanwhile, I was very engrossed in conversation with her and could not really be bothered with him.
Synonyms
- The members of the new gentry used their commercial connections and strategic land holdings to engross trade.
- However, Beckerman's lawyer engrossed the transfer/deed of land in Merry's name.
- We accept that there was no formal document engrossed as the register of units.
- The evidence from the Medical Tribunal that I could not recall was on 30 May 1994, two weeks beforehand, she had made an appointment with my solicitor to engross a new will.
Synonyms
Derivatives
engrossingly
- The film remains on-target until the very last scene, and it's engrossingly entertaining.
- This is a book that had to be written, and only Susan could do it so brilliantly and engrossingly.
- Its hilariously funny, engrossingly action-packed - especially in the second half of the film - and incredibly well done.
Origin
Late Middle English (formerly also as ingross): based on en-1, in-2 'in' + late Latin grossus 'large'. Sense 1 is from Old French en gros, from medieval Latin in grosso 'wholesale'; sense 2 comes from Anglo-Norman French engrosser, medieval Latin ingrossare, from Old French grosse, medieval Latin grossa 'large writing', with reference to clerks writing out documents in large, clear writing.
Both engross and gross (Middle English) come ultimately from the Latin word grossus ‘large’. Engross comes from the Latin phrase in grosso ‘wholesale’ and originally meant ‘to buy up the whole of a commodity in order to sell it at a monopoly price’. It is also linked to Middle English grocer—originally a person who sold things ‘in the gross’ or in large quantities. See also retail