invade
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to enter forcefully as an enemy; go into with hostile intent.
Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
-
to enter like an enemy.
Locusts invaded the fields.
-
to enter as if to take possession.
to invade a neighbor's home.
-
to enter and affect injuriously or destructively, as disease.
viruses that invade the bloodstream.
-
to intrude upon.
to invade the privacy of a family.
-
to encroach or infringe upon.
to invade the rights of citizens.
-
to permeate.
The smell of baking invades the house.
-
to penetrate; spread into or over.
The population boom has caused city dwellers to invade the suburbs.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to enter (a country, territory, etc) by military force
-
(tr) to occupy in large numbers; overrun; infest
-
(tr) to trespass or encroach upon (privacy, etc)
-
(tr) to enter and spread throughout, esp harmfully; pervade
-
(of plants, esp weeds) to become established in (a place to which they are not native)
Other Word Forms
- invadable adjective
- invader noun
- quasi-invaded adjective
- reinvade verb (used with object)
- uninvadable adjective
- uninvaded adjective
Etymology
Origin of invade
First recorded in 1485–95; from Latin invādere, from in- in- 2 + vādere “to go, walk” ( wade )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This year’s conference was attended by more than 24,000 people, who invaded San Diego earlier this month and made it the epicenter of the tech world.
There are also concerns that robots will take people’s jobs and invade their privacy.
From Los Angeles Times
His father Stanislav, a career soldier, was killed defending the country's second city Kharkiv just weeks after Russia invaded in 2022.
From Barron's
They help control infections by targeting invading microbes, foreign materials, and damaged or infected cells early on, which limits their ability to spread.
From Science Daily
Amid a vast snowy landscape, an invading army pulls back in disarray.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
