/,entə'teɪn; ,ɛntɚ`ten/
v
1 [I, Tn, Tn.pr] ~ sb (to sth) receive sb as a guest; provide food and drink for sb, esp in one's home 宴客; 招待, 款待某人（尤指在自己家中）
*I don't entertain very often. 我不常在家请客.
* They do a lot of entertaining, ie often give dinner parties, etc. 他们时常设宴待客.
* Bob and Liz entertained us to dinner last night. 昨晚鲍勃和利兹设宴招待了我们.
2 [Tn, Tn.pr] ~ sb (with sth) amuse sb 使某人快乐
*Could you entertain the children for an hour, while I make supper? 我做晚饭时, 你能哄孩子们玩一个小时吗?
* He entertained us for hours with his stories and jokes. 他给我们讲故事、说笑话, 让我们高兴了好几小时.
3 [Tn] (fml 文) (not in the continuous tenses 不用于进行时态)
(a) be ready and willing to consider (sth) 愿意考虑（某事物）
*He refused to entertain our proposal. 他拒不考虑我们的提议.
(b) hold (sth) in the mind or feelings 心里或感情上怀有（某事物）
*entertain ideas, doubts, etc 有想法、怀疑等.

v
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Old French;Origin: entretenir 'to hold together, support', from tenir 'to hold']
[I and T]
to amuse or interest people in a way that gives them pleasure
entertain sb with sth
　She entertained the children with stories, songs and drama.
　A museum should aim to entertain as well as educate.
[I and T]
to invite people to your home for a meal, party etc, or to take your company's customers somewhere to have a meal, drinks etc
　Mark usually does the cooking when we entertain.
　Do you get an allowance for entertaining clients ?
entertain an idea/hope/thought etc
formal to consider an idea etc, or allow yourself to think that something might happen or be true
　She could never entertain the idea of living in the country.