enlist

/ɛnˈlɪst/

enlist verb: to enter on a list; to enroll; to register.

Verb

enlist (third-person singular simple present enlists, present participle enlisting, simple past and past participle enlisted)

(transitive) To enter on a list; to enroll; to register.

Synonyms:

enscroll
(intransitive) To voluntarily join a cause or organization, especially military service.
- The army wants potential soldiers to enlist.
(transitive) To recruit the aid or membership of others.
- We enlisted fifty new members.
- “The Emperor visited east-central China (江與京洛), and enlisted 400,000 soldiers and 500 Wu ships to cross the seas and go to P’ing-jang, (the Kao-li capital).”1890, E. H. Parker, “On Race Struggles in Corea”, in Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, volume XVIII, Tokyo: The Hakubunsha, →OCLC, page 218
(transitive) To secure; to obtain.
- They enlisted the government's support.
- “I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity. […]”1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad

Noun

enlist (plural enlists)

One who is enlisted, usually in a military service.
- […] 19.17% are enlisted officers (including cadets and midshipmen with BA degrees and associate degrees, officers Designated Military Occupational Specialty, the enlists converting into conscripts], officers from ROTCs) ; 0.31% are conscripted […]2006, USA International Business Publications, Taiwan National Security And Defense Law And Regulations Handbook

enlist meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

enlist in Tamil

பட்டியலிடு, ஆள்சேர், ஈடுபடுத்து

enlist in Urdu

بھرتی کرنا

enlist in Bengali

তালিকভুক্ত করা, নাম লেখানো

enlist in Malayalam

പട്ടാളത്തിൽ ചേർക്കുക, പട്ടികയിൽ പേരു ചാർത്തുക

More languagesFewer languages

enlist in Kannada: ಸೇರಿಸು, ಬೆಂಬಲ ಪಡೆ
enlist in Vietnamese: đăng ký, đăng lính, đăng, tòng quân

Examples of enlist in a sentence

Uncle Sam needs brave men and women to enlist in the Army.
We should emphasise that the militariat enlists both military and civilians members.
To pursué higher studies for a year without enlisting as an investigator thus became respectable.

All 19 example sentences with enlist

Synonyms of enlist

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of enlist

Forms of enlist

Verb
third-person singular present	enlists
present participle	enlisting
past participle	enlisted
past	enlisted
alternative form (archaic)	inlist
Noun
plural	enlists

Past tense of enlist: enlisted

Origin of enlist

From en- + list.

Words formed from enlist

Words that rhyme with enlist

43 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about enlist

What does enlist mean?: Enlist means to enter on a list; to enroll; to register.
What is enlist in Tamil?: Enlist in Tamil is பட்டியலிடு, ஆள்சேர், ஈடுபடுத்து. See Enlist meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is enlist?: Enlist can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce enlist?: Enlist is pronounced /ɛnˈlɪst/.
What is the past tense of enlist?: The past tense of enlist is enlisted.

Words near enlist in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: enlist (page history and authors); enlist (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); enlist (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Enlist (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); enlist (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); enlist (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-enlist.wav.

Cite this entry: “enlist.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/enlist. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.