Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Preengage \Pre`["e]n*gage"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   {Pre["e]ngaged}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Pre["e]ngaging}.]
   To engage by previous contract; to bind or attach previously;
   to preoccupy.

         But he was pre["e]ngaged by former ties. --Dryden.