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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.

Synonym: 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.