Verbs That Start With E – A Complete List With Meanings

Verbs beginning with the letter E carry a unique spark that adds power and clarity to our communication. As one of the most frequently used letters in English, E introduces a wide range of verbs that express action, intention, and inspiration. From simple, everyday words like eat and enjoy to more expressive choices like empower, envision, and emphasize, these verbs help us convey ideas with precision and impact. Whether you’re writing, speaking, or simply expanding your vocabulary, learning positive and versatile “E” verbs can enrich your expression, making your messages more engaging and effective.

List of Verbs That Start With E 

Verbs that begin with the letter E cover a wide spectrum of actions. These words help you communicate with clarity, whether you’re describing physical actions (eat, enter, exit), expressing emotions (enjoy, empathize), or adding power and emphasis to your writing (empower, enhance, emphasize). Learning and using these verbs will not only enrich your vocabulary but also make your speech and writing more dynamic, engaging, and effective.

Common Verbs Starting With E 

These are frequently used verbs in everyday English, ideal for both spoken and written communication. 

Verb	Meaning	Example
Eat	To consume food	She likes to eat breakfast early in the morning.
Enter	To go into a place	Please enter the room quietly.
Enjoy	To take pleasure in something	I really enjoy reading mystery novels.
Explain	To make something clear	Can you explain the rules again?
End	To bring to a close	The meeting will end at 3 p.m.
Examine	To inspect closely	The doctor will examine the patient.
Exit	To leave a place	We exited the building through the back door.
Email	To send a message electronically	I’ll email you the details later.
Erase	To remove written or drawn marks	Use this eraser to erase the pencil marks.
Earn	To receive money or reward for work	She earns a good salary.
Expect	To look forward to something	We expect good results from this campaign.
Extend	To make something longer or bigger	They extended the deadline by two days.
Express	To convey a thought or feeling	He expressed his gratitude openly.
Exercise	To engage in physical activity	She exercises every morning to stay fit.
Employ	To hire someone for a job	The company employs over 200 people.

Positive Verbs Starting With E

These verbs inspire, uplift, or motivate for persuasive or positive writing. 

1. Empower – To give power or confidence   
   Example: The program aims to empower young women. 
2. Encourage – To give support or hope   
   Example: Teachers should encourage students to ask questions. 
3. Elevate – To raise to a higher level   
   Example: His words elevated the mood of the team. 
4. Enlighten – To give knowledge or insight   
   Example: The seminar enlightened us about climate change. 
5. Enrich – To improve the quality of something   
   Example: Travel can enrich your understanding of the world. 
6. Energize – To give energy or enthusiasm   
   Example: Her speech energized the audience. 
7. Enhance – To improve or intensify   
   Example: Adding lemon will enhance the flavor. 
8. Embrace – To accept willingly   
   Example: We should embrace new opportunities. 
9. Emanate – To spread out from a source   
   Example: Warmth emanated from the fireplace. 
10. Entrust – To give someone responsibility   
    Example: They entrusted him with the project. 
11. Envision – To imagine a future possibility   
    Example: She envisions a world without poverty. 
12. Esteem – To respect or admire   
    Example: He is highly esteemed by his peers. 
13. Exalt – To praise highly   
    Example: The poem exalts the beauty of nature. 
14. Enable – To make something possible   
    Example: The app enables users to track expenses easily. 
15. Endear – To cause to be loved or liked   
    Example: Her kindness endeared her to everyone.

Action Verbs Starting With E 

These verbs describe dynamic actions and movements, perfect for storytelling or energetic writing. 

Verb	Meaning	Example
Escape	To break free from something	The prisoner tried to escape from jail.
Engage	To participate or get involved	He engaged in a lively debate.
Execute	To carry out a plan or action	The chef executed the recipe perfectly.
Explode	To burst with force	The fireworks exploded in the sky.
Explore	To travel or examine in detail	We explored the cave with flashlights.
Erupt	To burst out suddenly	The volcano erupted violently.
Extract	To pull something out	The dentist extracted the bad tooth.
Escort	To accompany someone for protection or guidance	A guard escorted the visitors.
Exhale	To breathe out	She exhaled deeply after the workout.
Elude	To avoid capture or detection	The thief eluded the police.
Enforce	To make sure rules are followed	The police enforce traffic laws.
Enlist	To join or recruit	He enlisted in the army at 18.
Evacuate	To leave a dangerous place	They evacuated the building after the alarm.
Eject	To force someone or something out	The referee ejected the player for foul play.
Engulf	To surround or cover completely	Flames engulfed the entire house.

Rare and Unique Verbs Starting With E 

These less common verbs are excellent for advanced vocabulary and creative writing. 

1. Exemplify – To serve as an example   
   Example: She exemplifies leadership through her actions. 
2. Efface – To erase or make disappear   
   Example: Time effaced the old memories. 
3. Emblazon – To decorate vividly or prominently   
   Example: The flag was emblazoned with a golden eagle. 
4. Excoriate – To strongly criticize   
   Example: The critic excoriated the play in his review. 
5. Expostulate – To argue or protest earnestly   
   Example: He expostulated with his friend about the risks. 
6. Extol – To praise enthusiastically   
   Example: They extolled her achievements at the ceremony. 
7. Enrapture – To fill with delight   
   Example: The music enraptured the entire audience. 
8. Evert – To turn inside out   
   Example: The surgeon everted the tissue during the procedure. 
9. Enkindle – To arouse or ignite (emotion or fire)   
   Example: The speech enkindled hope in the crowd. 
10. Emaciate – To become extremely thin   
    Example: The famine emaciated the population. 
11. Ephemeralize – To make something more efficient or short-lived
    Example: Technology ephemeralizes many manual tasks. 
12. Envenom – To poison or make bitter   
    Example: His words envenomed the peaceful discussion. 
13. Excogitate – To think out carefully   
    Example: She excogitated a brilliant plan. 
14. Exsanguinate – To drain of blood   
    Example: The doctor treated the exsanguinated patient. 
15. Exuviate – To shed or cast off (skin or shell)   
    Example: Snakes exuviate their skin periodically.

Regular Verbs That Start With E 

Regular verbs follow the standard pattern of adding -ed or -d for past tense. 

Verb	Meaning	Example
Earn	To receive money or reward for work	She earns a bonus every year.
Echo	To repeat or resound	His words echoed through the hall.
Edit	To correct or revise text/media	She edited the article for grammar mistakes.
Email	To send electronically	I’ll email you the document tomorrow.
Employ	To hire or use	The company employs 500 workers.
Enact	To make into law	The government enacted new traffic rules.
Enclose	To put inside or surround	Please enclose a copy of your ID with the form.
Encircle	To form a circle around	Soldiers encircled the camp.
Enlarge	To make bigger	He enlarged the photo before printing it.
Enlist	To sign up for service or support	She enlisted in the volunteer program.
Entertain	To amuse or interest	The magician entertained the children.
Estimate	To roughly calculate	The builder estimated the cost at $5,000.
Examine	To look at closely	The detective examined the clues carefully.
Exclaim	To speak suddenly with strong feeling	“Wow!” she exclaimed when she saw the gift.
Expand	To increase in size or scope	The company plans to expand into Europe.

Irregular Verbs Starting With E

Irregular verbs have non-standard past tense forms. 

1. Eat (ate, eaten) – To consume food
   Example: She ate lunch quickly. 
2. Endure (endured – rare but can act irregular in older forms) – To suffer patiently   
   Example: He endured months of hardship. 
3. Excel (excelled – irregular in older English, but now regular) – To perform extremely well   
   Example: She excelled in her studies. 
4. Embed (embedded – variant irregular forms exist) – To fix firmly in place   
   Example: The jewel was embedded in gold. 
5. Exceed (exceeded – but historically irregular) – To go beyond a limit   
   Example: His performance exceeded expectations. 
6. Escape (escaped – but had irregular use in Middle English) – To break free   
   Example: The bird escaped from its cage. 
7. Elope (eloped – not classical irregular but sometimes treated so in archaic texts) – To run away secretly to marry   
   Example: They eloped to Paris. 
8. Enquire (enquired/enquired – variant forms across dialects) – To ask for information   
   Example: He enquired about the position. 
9. Expel (expelled, expulsion irregularity) – To force out   
   Example: The school expelled the disruptive student. 
10. Enrol (enrolled/enrolled, UK/US irregularities) – To officially register   
    Example: She enrolled in a French course. 
11. Equip (equipped – double consonant irregular) – To provide with necessary items   
    Example: The hikers were equipped with supplies. 
12. Emerge (emerged – sometimes older irregular) – To come into view   
    Example: A rainbow emerged after the rain. 
13. Ebb (ebbed – originally strong verb in Old English) – To recede or fade away   
    Example: The tide ebbed slowly. 
14. Err (erred – variant irregular pronunciation) – To make a mistake   
    Example: To err is human, to forgive divine. 
15. Eld (archaic irregular, from Old English) – To grow old   
    Example: He eld in wisdom as years passed.

Phrasal Verbs Starting With E

Phrasal verbs combine a verb + preposition/adverb to create new meanings. 

Verb	Meaning	Example
Ease up	To relax or reduce intensity	The boss told him to ease up on overtime.
Eat out	To dine at a restaurant	We decided to eat out last night.
Eat up	To consume completely	The baby ate up all the porridge.
Edge out	To narrowly defeat someone	She edged out her competitor in the finals.
Embark on	To begin something new	He embarked on a new career.
Empty out	To remove everything from inside	Please empty out your pockets.
End up	To finally reach a result	We ended up staying at home.
Engage in	To take part in something	She engaged in charity work.
Enter into	To formally begin something	They entered into an agreement.
Explain away	To dismiss a problem with excuses	He tried to explain away his mistakes.
Eye up	To look at with interest	She eyed up the dress in the shop window.
Ease into	To gradually adapt to something	He eased into his new role at work.
Edge in	To insert oneself gradually	She edged in a quick question before leaving.
End off	To finish something	Let’s end off the meeting with a thank-you.
Egg on	To encourage someone to do something risky	His friends egged him on to try the stunt.

Popular & Impactful Verbs That Start With E

These verbs are widely used and carry strong or inspiring meanings, often used in speeches or persuasive writing. 

1. Empower – To give power or confidence   
   Example: The campaign empowers young leaders. 
2. Encourage – To give support or hope   
   Example: Parents should encourage creativity. 
3. Elevate – To raise to a higher level   
   Example: The coach’s advice elevated team spirit. 
4. Enhance – To improve or intensify   
   Example: Good lighting enhances photography. 
5. Envision – To imagine a future possibility   
   Example: She envisions success for the company. 
6. Express – To convey feelings or thoughts   
   Example: He expressed his gratitude clearly. 
7. Explore – To investigate or travel   
   Example: They explored the hidden cave. 
8. Engage – To participate actively   
   Example: The teacher engaged students in discussion. 
9. Execute – To carry out a plan   
   Example: The architect executed the design perfectly. 
10. Expand – To grow or increase   
    Example: The business expanded internationally. 
11. Energize – To give energy or excitement   
    Example: Music energized the dancers. 
12. Embrace – To accept or welcome   
    Example: We should embrace change with optimism. 
13. Establish – To set up or create   
    Example: The school was established in 1985. 
14. Educate – To teach or train   
    Example: Schools aim to educate young minds. 
15. Exemplify – To serve as an example   
    Example: Her kindness exemplifies true leadership.

Fun Facts About Words Beginning With E

1. E is the Most Common Letter in English – Over 11% of all words in English contain the letter E, making it the most frequently used letter in the language. That’s why so many verbs, adjectives, and nouns start with it! 
2. Many “E” Words Come from Latin and French – A large portion of English words starting with E (like enlighten, empower, embrace) have roots in Latin or Old French, often carrying meanings of “to make” or “to put into action.” 
3. Positive Energy in “E” Verbs – A striking number of uplifting and motivational verbs start with E (empower, encourage, elevate, enrich, enlighten). This makes “E” a favorite letter for speeches, branding, and motivational writing. 
4. “E” Loves Prefixes – Many verbs beginning with E are created using prefixes like en- (enable, enrich, ensure) or ex- (expand, express, explore), showing how versatile the letter is in forming new action words. 
5. “E” Words Often Suggest Movement or Growth – Interestingly, many action-packed “E” verbs involve change, progress, or transformation (evolve, expand, emerge, embark). This gives the letter a dynamic and forward-moving energy in language.

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Conclusion

Verbs that start with the letter E bring energy, expression, and elegance to the English language. From everyday actions like eat and enter to inspiring choices like empower, enlighten, and envision, these words give writers and speakers powerful tools to communicate with precision and impact. Whether you’re aiming to sound more positive, describe dynamic actions, or enrich your vocabulary with unique and rare terms, “E” verbs offer endless opportunities. By mastering these verbs, you can make your writing more engaging, your speech more persuasive, and your overall communication more effective.