Word Direct Answers

What does "entertain" mean?

Entertain: To give hospitable reception and maintenance to; to receive at one's board, or into one's house; to receive as a guest. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained unawares. Heb. xiii.

Additional senses

  1. 2.3. To engage the attention of agreeably; to amuse with that which makes the time pass pleasantly; to divert; as, to entertain friends with conversation, etc. The weary time she can not entertain. Shak.
  2. 3.To give reception to; to receive, in general; to receive and take into consideration; to admit, treat, or make use of; as, to entertain a proposal. I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke. De Quincey. A rumor gained ground, -- and, however absurd, was entertained by some very sensible people. Hawthorne.
  3. 4.To meet or encounter, as an enemy. [Obs.] Shak.
  4. 5.To keep, hold, or maintain in the mind with favor; to keep in the mind; to harbor; to cherish; as, to entertain sentiments.
  5. 6.To lead on; to bring along; to introduce. [Obs.] To baptize all nations, and entertain them into the services institutions of the holy Jesus. Jer. Taylor. See Amuse.
  6. 7.To receive, or provide entertainment for, guests; as, he entertains generously.
  7. 8.Entertainment. [Obs.] Spenser.

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