Verb
1
keep busy with
"She busies herself with her butterfly collection"
2
live (in a certain place)
"She resides in Princeton"
"he occupies two rooms on the top floor"
3
occupy the whole of
"The liquid fills the container"
4
be on the mind of
"I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift"
5
march aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation
"Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939"
6
require (time or space)
"It took three hours to get to work this morning"
"This event occupied a very short time"
7
consume all of one's attention or time
"Her interest in butterflies absorbs her completely"
8
assume, as of positions or roles
"She took the job as director of development"
"he occupies the position of manager"
"the young prince will soon occupy the throne"
9
To take or use.
"The new tenants will occupy the apartment next month."
10
To fill.
"The large crowd occupied every seat in the theater."
In plain English: To occupy means to take up space, fill time with an activity, or hold someone's attention so they cannot do anything else.
"The new furniture occupies most of the living room space."
Proper Noun
1
Synonym of OWS (“"Occupy Wall Street" protest movement”)
"Activists gathered in Zuccotti Park to occupy as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement."
Example Sentences
"The new furniture occupies most of the living room space."
verb
"The new furniture will occupy most of the living room space."
verb
"She needs to occupy her mind with interesting books during the long flight."
verb
"Three soldiers were occupied in patrolling the border area all night."
verb
Related Terms
Show all 51 terms ↓
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
Origin
From Middle English occupien, occupyen, borrowed from Old French occuper, from Latin occupāre ("to take possession of, seize, occupy, take up, employ"), from ob ("to, on") + capiō ("to take"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- ("to seize, grab"). Doublet of occupate, now obsolete.