3 VERB [usu passive] If your time is employed in doing something, you are using the time you have to do that thing. □ [be V -ed + in ] Your time could be usefully employed in attending to professional matters.
4 PHRASE If you are in the employ of someone or something, you work for them. [FORMAL ] □ Others hinted that he was in the employ of the KGB.
em|ploy|able / I mplɔ I əb ə l/ ADJ Someone who is employable has skills or abilities that are likely to make someone want to give them a job. □ People need basic education if they are to become employable. □ …employable adults.
em|ployee ◆◆◇ / I mplɔ I iː/ (employees ) N‑COUNT An employee is a person who is paid to work for an organization or for another person. □ [+ of ] He is an employee of Fuji Bank. □ …a government employee. SYNONYMS employee NOUN
worker: Wages have been frozen and workers laid off.
staff: …members of staff.
hand: He now works as a farm hand.
em|ploy|er ◆◇◇ / I mplɔ I ə r / (employers ) N‑COUNT Your employer is the person or organization that you work for. □ He had been sent to Rome by his employer. □ The telephone company is the country's largest employer.
em|ploy|ment ◆◇◇ / I mplɔ I mənt/
1 N‑UNCOUNT Employment is the fact of having a paid job. □ She was unable to find employment. □ He regularly drove from his home to his place of employment.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Employment is the fact of employing someone. □ [+ of ] …the employment of children under nine.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Employment is the work that is available in a country or area. □ …economic policies designed to secure full employment. SYNONYMS employment NOUN 1
work: Fewer and fewer people are in work.
job: …overseas job vacancies.
position: He left a career in teaching to take up a position with the Arts Council.
post: She had earlier resigned her post as President Menem's assistant.
em|plo y|ment agen|cy (employment agencies ) N‑COUNT An employment agency is a company whose business is to help people to find work and help employers to find the workers they need. [BUSINESS ]
em|po|rium /empɔː riəm/ (emporiums or emporia /empɔː riə/) N‑COUNT An emporium is a store or large shop. [FORMAL ]
em|power / I mpaʊ ə r / (empowers , empowering , empowered )
1 VERB If someone is empowered to do something, they have the authority or power to do it. [FORMAL ] □ [be V -ed to-inf] The army is now empowered to operate on a shoot-to-kill basis. [Also V n]
2 VERB To empower someone means to give them the means to achieve something, for example to become stronger or more successful. □ [V n] What I'm trying to do is to empower people, to give them ways to help them get well.
em|pow|er|ment / I mpaʊ ə r mənt/ N‑UNCOUNT The empowerment of a person or group of people is the process of giving them power and status in a particular situation. □ [+ of ] This government believes very strongly in the empowerment of women.
em|press /e mpr I s/ (empresses ) N‑COUNT ; N‑TITLE An empress is a woman who rules an empire or who is the wife of an emperor.
emp|ti|ness /e mptinəs/
1 N‑UNCOUNT A feeling of emptiness is an unhappy or frightening feeling that nothing is worthwhile, especially when you are very tired or have just experienced something upsetting. □ The result later in life may be feelings of emptiness and depression.
2 N‑UNCOUNT The emptiness of a place is the fact that there is nothing in it. □ [+ of ] …the emptiness of the desert.
emp|ty ◆◇◇ /e mpti/ (emptier , emptiest , empties , emptying , emptied )
1 ADJ An empty place, vehicle, or container is one that has no people or things in it. □ The room was bare and empty. □ …empty cans of lager. □ [+ of ] The roads were nearly empty of traffic.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] An empty gesture, threat, or relationship has no real value or meaning. □ His father threatened to throw him out, but he knew it was an empty threat. □ …to ensure the event is not perceived as an empty gesture.
3 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you describe a person's life or a period of time as empty , you mean that nothing interesting or valuable happens in it. □ My life was very hectic but empty before I met him.
4 ADJ If you feel empty , you feel unhappy and have no energy, usually because you are very tired or have just experienced something upsetting. □ I feel so empty, my life just doesn't seem worth living any more.
5 VERB If you empty a container, or empty something out of it, you remove its contents, especially by tipping it up. □ [V n] I emptied the ashtray. □ [V n prep] Empty the noodles and liquid into a serving bowl. □ [V n with out ] He emptied the contents out into the palm of his hand.
6 VERB If someone empties a room or place, or if it empties , everyone that is in it goes away. □ [V ] The stadium emptied at the end of the first day of athletics. □ [V n] …a woman who could empty a pub full of drunks just by lifting one fist.