online medical dictionary | definition of engross

1. To make gross, thick, or large; to thicken; to increase in bulk or quantity. "Waves . . . Engrossed with mud." (Spenser) "Not sleeping, to engross his idle body." (Shak)

2. To amass. "To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf." (Shak)

3. To copy or write in a large hand (en gross, i. E, in large); to write a fair copy of in distinct and legible characters; as, to engross a deed or like instrument on parchment. "Some period long past, when clerks engrossed their stiff and formal chirography on more substantial materials." (Hawthorne) "Laws that may be engrossed on a finger nail." (De Quincey)

4. To seize in the gross; to take the whole of; to occupy wholly; to absorb; as, the subject engrossed all his thoughts.

5. To purchase either the whole or large quantities of, for the purpose of enhancing the price and making a profit; hence, to take or assume in undue quantity, proportion, or degree; as, to engross commodities in market; to engross power. Engrossed bill, a fair, round style of writing suitable for engrossing legal documents, legislative bills, etc.

Synonyms: To absorb, swallow up, imbibe, consume, exhaust, occupy, forestall, monopolize. See Absorb.

Origin: F, fr. Pref. En- (L. In) + gros gross, grosse, n, an engrossed document: cf. OF. Engrossir, engroissier, to make thick, large, or gross. See Gross.

(01 Mar 1998)