Meaning of occupy in English

Table of contents

Verb
occupy
Etymology
Middle English: formed irregularly from Old French occuper, from Latin occupare‘seize’. A now obsolete vulgar sense ‘have sexual relations with’ seems to have led to the general avoidance of the word in the 17th and most of the 18th century
Definitions
1. be present in
Examples
- « be inside of »
Derived terms
2. keep busy with
Examples
- « She busies herself with her butterfly collection »
Derived terms
- occupation
3. live (in a certain place)
Derived terms
4. occupy the whole of
Examples
- « The liquid fills the container »
Derived terms
- occupation
5. be on the mind of
Examples
- « I worry about the second Germanic consonant »
Derived terms
6. as of time or space
Examples
- « It took three hours to get to work this morning »
- « This event occupied a very short time »
Derived terms
- occupation
7. march aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation
Examples
- « Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 »
Derived terms
8. engage or engross wholly
Examples
- « Her interest in butterflies absorbs her completely »
Derived terms

Famous quotes

« Today, the Iraqi citizen sees that America is coming and wants to occupy his country and kill him, and he is willing to experience for himself what happened in Palestine. »
Bashar al-Assad
« When we are afraid we ought not to occupy ourselves with endeavoring to prove that there is no danger, but in strengthening ourselves to go on in spite of the danger. »
Hale White
« U2 is an original species... there are colours and feelings and emotional terrain that we occupy that is ours and ours alone. »
Bono
« Now, we occupy a lowly position, both in space and rank in comparison with the heavenly sphere, and the Almighty is Most High not in space, but with respect to absolute existence, greatness and power. »
Maimonides
« It isn't enough just to scream at the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. We need our political system to start reflect this anger back into, 'How do we fix it? How do we get the economy going again?' »
Colin Powell