AMUSES

Verb

amuses

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of amuse

Anagrams

• Seamus, assume

Source: Wiktionary


AMUSE

A*muse", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Amused; p. pr. & vb. n. Amusing.] Etym: [F. amuser to make stay, to detain, to amuse, ad) + OF. muser. See Muse, v.]

1. To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder. [Obs.] Camillus set upon the Gauls when they were amused in receiving their gold. Holland. Being amused with grief, fear, and fright, he could not find the house. Fuller.

2. To entertain or occupy in a pleasant manner; to stir with pleasing or mirthful emotions; to divert. A group children amusing themselves with pushing stones from the top [of the cliff], and watching as they plunged into the lake. Gilpin.

3. To keep in extraction; to beguile; to delude. He amused his followers with idle promises. Johnson.

Syn.

– To entertain; gratify; please; divert; beguile; deceive; occupy.

– To Amuse, Divert, Entertain. We are amused by that which occupies us lightly and pleasantly. We are entertained by that which brings our minds into agreeable contact with others, as conversation, or a book. We are diverted by that which turns off our thoughts to something of livelier interest, especially of a sportive nature, as a humorous story, or a laughable incident. Whatever amuses serves to kill time, to lull the faculties, and to banish reflection. Whatever entertains usually a wakens the understanding or gratifies the fancy. Whatever diverts is lively in its nature, and sometimes tumultuous in its effects. Crabb.

A*muse", v. i.

Definition: To muse; to mediate. [Obs.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

6 May 2025

HEEDLESS

(adjective) marked by or paying little heed or attention; “We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics”--Franklin D. Roosevelt; “heedless of danger”; “heedless of the child’s crying”


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Coffee Trivia

In 1884, Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, demonstrated the first working example of an espresso machine.

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