a·muse [ ə myz ](past and past participlea·mused, present participlea·mus·ing, 3rd person present singulara·mus·es)
transitive verb
Definition:
1. make somebody laugh: to make somebody smile or laugh or think that something is funny
2. keep somebody happily occupied: to keep somebody occupied or entertained by providing entertainment or an interesting task
[15th century. < French amuser "cause to stare stupidly" < muser "stare stupidly"]
a·mused adjective
Word History
The history of the word amuse is very similar to that of distract and divert: all three have moved from the notion of "leading the mind astray" in a negative sense to the notion of "entertainment."
