enslave
verb/ɪnˈsleɪv/
/ɪnˈsleɪv/
[usually passive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they enslave | /ɪnˈsleɪv/ /ɪnˈsleɪv/ |
| he / she / it enslaves | /ɪnˈsleɪvz/ /ɪnˈsleɪvz/ |
| past simple enslaved | /ɪnˈsleɪvd/ /ɪnˈsleɪvd/ |
| past participle enslaved | /ɪnˈsleɪvd/ /ɪnˈsleɪvd/ |
| -ing form enslaving | /ɪnˈsleɪvɪŋ/ /ɪnˈsleɪvɪŋ/ |
- enslave somebody to make somebody the property of another person who they are forced to work for and obey
- enslaved people
- Americans whose ancestors were enslaved
- organized crime groups who traffic and enslave people
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- (formal) to make somebody/something completely depend on something so that they cannot manage without it
- be enslaved (to something) Our civilization is enslaved to materialism.
Word Originearly 17th cent. (in the sense ‘make (a person) subject to a superstition, passion, etc.’; formerly also as inslave): from en-, in- (as an intensifier) + slave.
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enslave