Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
entertain
en‧ter‧tain /ˌentəˈteɪn $ -tər-/ verb
[Word Family: noun: entertainer, entertainment, entertaining; verb: entertain; adverb: entertainingly; adjective: entertaining]
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Old French; Origin: entretenir 'to hold together, support', from tenir 'to hold']
1. [intransitive and transitive] to amuse or interest people in a way that gives them pleasure
entertain somebody with something
• She entertained the children with stories, songs and drama.
• A museum should aim to entertain as well as educate.
2. [intransitive and transitive] to invite people to your home for a meal, party etc, or to take your company’s customers somewhere to have a meal, drinks etc:
• Mark usually does the cooking when we entertain.
• Do you get an allowance for entertaining clients?
3. entertain an idea/hope/thought etc formal to consider an idea etc, or allow yourself to think that something might happen or be true:
• She could never entertain the idea of living in the country.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
entertain
en·ter·tain[entertainentertainsentertainedentertaining] [ˌentəˈteɪn] [ˌentərˈteɪn]verb
1. intransitive, transitive to invite people to eat or drink with you as your guests, especially in your home
• The job involves a lot of entertaining.
• ~ sb Barbecues are a favourite way of entertaining friends.
2. transitive, intransitive ~ (sb) (with sth) to interest and amuse sb in order to please them
• He entertained us for hours with his stories and jokes.
• The aim of the series is both to entertain and inform.
3. transitive (not used in the progressive tenses) ~ sth (formal) to consider or allow yourself to think about an idea, a hope, a feeling, etc
• He had entertained hopes of a reconciliation.
• to entertain a doubt/suspicion
Word Origin:
late Middle English: from French entretenir, based on Latin inter ‘among’ + tenere ‘to hold’. The word originally meant ‘maintain, continue’, later ‘maintain in a certain condition, treat in a certain way’, also ‘show hospitality’ (late 15th cent.).
Thesaurus:
entertain verb
1. I, T
• The job involves a lot of entertaining.
welcome • |formal receive •
entertain/welcome/receive a guest/visitor
be there to entertain/welcome/receive sb
2. T, I
• He entertained us for hours with his stories.
amuse •
entertain/amuse sb with sth
keep sb entertained/amused
Example Bank:
• Films can entertain and educate, make you laugh or cry.
• I am amazed that such a crackpot scheme could be seriously entertained.
• She entertained us with stories of her travels.
• She would make no promises, but was prepared to entertain the idea.
• The Bradfords always entertained lavishly at Christmas.
• They entertained us to lunch in their new house.
• We hired a magician to keep the children entertained.
• briefly entertaining hopes that he might keep the affair a secret
• Two of the students kept the children entertained with a puppet show.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
entertain
entertain (THINK ABOUT) /ˌen.təˈteɪn/ US /-ţɚ-/
verb [T not continuous] FORMAL
to hold in your mind or to be willing to consider or accept:
The General refused to entertain the possibility of defeat.
entertain (INVITE) /en.təˈteɪn/ US /-ţɚ-/
verb [I or T]
to invite someone to your house and give food and drink to them:
We entertain a lot of people, mainly business associates of my wife's.
Now that I live on my own, I don't entertain much.
entertaining /en.təˈteɪ.nɪŋ/ US /-ţɚ-/
noun [U]
We do a lot of entertaining.
entertain (AMUSE) /en.təˈteɪn/ US /-ţɚ-/
verb [I or T]
to keep a group of people interested or amused:
We hired a magician to entertain the children.
Most children's television programmes aim to educate and entertain at the same time.
entertainer /en.təˈteɪ.nəʳ/ US /-ţɚˈteɪ.nɚ/
noun [C]
someone whose job is to entertain people by singing, telling jokes, etc.
entertaining /en.təˈteɪ.nɪŋ/ US /-ţɚ-/
adjective
amusing and enjoyable:
an entertaining story/film
His books aren't particularly well-written, but they're always entertaining.
entertainingly /en.təˈteɪ.nɪŋ.li/ US /-ţɚ-/
adverb
entertainment /en.təˈteɪn.mənt/ US /-ţ/
noun [C or U]
shows, films, television, or other performances or activities that entertain people, or a performance of this type:
There's not much in the way of entertainment in this town - just the cinema and a couple of pubs.
FORMAL This season's entertainments include five new plays and several concerts of Chinese and Indian music.
Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
entertain
[e̱ntə(r)te͟ɪn]
entertains, entertaining, entertained
1) VERB If a performer, performance, or activity entertains you, it amuses you, interests you, or gives you pleasure.
[V n] ...games and ideas to entertain children...
[V n] They were entertained by top singers, dancers and celebrities...
Children's television not only entertains but also teaches.
Derived words:
entertaining ADJ-GRADED To generate new money the sport needs to be more entertaining... This is a surprisingly entertaining film... Miro is the most inventive and entertaining of surrealist painters.
2) VERB If you entertain people, you provide food and drink for them, for example by inviting them to your house.
[V n] I don't like to entertain guests anymore...
[V n] You weren't allowed to entertain men in your rooms even with a chaperone...
The Monroes continued to entertain extravagantly.
Derived words:
entertaining N-UNCOUNT ...a cosy area for entertaining and relaxing.
3) VERB If you entertain an idea or suggestion, you allow yourself to consider it as possible or as worth thinking about seriously. [FORMAL]
[V n] I feel how foolish I am to entertain doubts...
[V n] I wouldn't entertain the idea of such an unsociable job.