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Noname 8048 Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

Meaning of preposition 'on'

I'm learning dictionary definition of 'on' with the Oxford Dictionary and 9th meaning confuses me.

Engaged in:
his attendant was out on errands.

Clicking the blue text "Engaged", it lead me to first meaning of engage - Occupy or attract (someone's interest or attention)

So example sentence can be altered to :
"His attendant was out Attracted in errands"?

Which I think it makes no sesnse especially because fisrt meaning of 'engage' is stated that someone's interest or attention follows the engage.

How should I understand this?
What is proper interpretation of "engaged in" in the given sentence?
  

Top answer

Try 'occupied in' rather than 'attracted in'.

— Fivejedjon

  • Try 'occupied in' rather than 'attracted in'.
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6 Answers
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Try 'occupied in' rather than 'attracted in'.
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Thing is that if I click "occupy" it brings up the fourth meaning of it which is Take control of something by millitary conquest or settlement.
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His attendant was out, [ occupied by ] / [engaged in ] (doing) errands.

occupied = busy
engaged in = busy

See entry B2. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/occupy?a=british
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Noname 8048Thing is that if I click "occupy" it brings up the fourth meaning of it which is Take control of something by millitary conquest or settlement.
Many words have several different meanings. The art of using a dictionary or dictionaries is to pick a definition that seems to fit the context we see the word in. We have to use common sense in eliminating
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Thank you, Alphecastar.
fivejedjon Noname 8048Thing is that if I click "occupy" it brings up the fourth meaning of it which is Take control of something by millitary conquest or settlement.Many words have several different meanings. The art of using a dictionary or dictionaries is to pick a definition that seems to fit the context we see the word in. We have to use common s
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Noname 8048I thought dictionary automatically move scroll bar to meaning with mentioned context
No, dictionary web sites are not that intelligent. They have no idea of which of the many definitions are the best for a particular context, even those that are cited as an example in another dictionary entry.
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