ENGRO'SS, verb transitive

1. Primarily, to make thick or gross; to thicken. [Not now used.]

2. To make larger; to increase in bulk. [Not used.]

3. To seize in the gross; to take the whole; as, worldly cares engross the attention of most men, but neither business nor amusement should engross our whole time.

4. To purchase, with a view to sell again, either the whole or large quantities of commodities in market, for the purpose of making a profit by enhancing the price. Engrossing does not necessarily imply the purchase of the whole of any commodity, but such quantities as to raise the price, by diminishing the supplies in open market, and taking advantage of an increased demand.

5. To copy in a large hand; to write a fair, correct copy, in large or distinct, legible characters, for preservation or duration; as records of public acts, on paper or parchment.

6. To take or assume in undue quantities or degrees; as, to engross power.