Definition of ENGROSS

engross

Verb

Verb Forms: engrossed, engrossing, engrosses

  • To absorb all the attention or interest of someone.
  • devote (oneself) fully to
  • consume all of one's attention or time
  • To write (a document) in large, aesthetic, and legible lettering; to make a finalized copy of.
  • To buy up wholesale, especially to buy the whole supply of (a commodity etc.).
  • To monopolize; to concentrate (something) in the single possession of someone, especially unfairly.
  • To completely engage the attention of; to involve.
  • To thicken; to condense.
  • To make gross, thick, or large; to thicken; to increase in bulk or quantity.
  • To amass.

Examples

  • She seems to be completely engrossed in that book.
  • The Words With Friends match began to ENGROSS her, making her forget the time.

Origin / 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-, gross.

Synonyms

absorb, engage, engulf, immerse, occupy, plunge, soak up, steep, amass, amound, condense, corner the market, engross, get up, hoard, incrassate, inspissate, intreasure, niggard, packrat, rathole, reduce, squirrel away, thick, thicken, uphoard

Scrabble Score: 8

engross: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
engross: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
engross: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

engross: valid Words With Friends Word