invade
Americanverb (used with object)
-
invades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
invaded,
past participle, past
-
invading
present participle
-
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)
-
invades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
invaded,
past participle, past
-
invading
present participle
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
Derived Forms
-
invadernoun
-
reinvadeverb (used with object)
-
invadableadjective
-
quasi-invadedadjective
-
uninvadableadjective
-
uninvadedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
invadesimple
-
invadessimple
-
have invadedperfect
-
has invadedperfect
-
am invadingprogressive
-
are invadingprogressive
-
is invadingprogressive
-
have been invadingperfect progressive
-
has been invadingperfect progressive
Past
-
invadedsimple
-
had invadedperfect
-
was invadingprogressive
-
were invadingprogressive
-
had been invadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of invade
First recorded in 1485–95; from Latin invādere, from in- in- 2 + vādere “to go, walk” ( see also wade)
Explanation
When you Invade, you aggressively take over or occupy a place. If a country's leader wants to gain more land, the military might invade a neighboring country. Not everything that invades is militaristic. Some things that invade are cultural, such as the phenomena of young, stylish people moving into a neighborhood that had never been thought of as cool before. In an instant, new restaurants and shops catering to the newcomers open and soon the area is overrun with people wearing, say, skinny jeans and complicated eyewear. Natives to the area lament, "This place has been invaded by hipsters."
Vocabulary lists containing invade
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 12–15
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Bronx Masquerade
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Beowulf vocabulary
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Some clones develop changes that help them withstand cancer treatments, while others become better equipped to invade surrounding tissues and spread to other parts of the body.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026
Before the formation of Canada, the US had attempted to invade British North American colonies, taking control of Montreal in 1775 and nearly conquering Quebec City.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Why invade some place if you basically already control it?
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
If China does invade, Lin says he would “fight tooth and nail” to defend the island.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
But, from a report Sackett later wrote, we know the most important facts she learned: The British were building many flat-bottomed boats and were planning to invade Philadelphia and “subdue that city.”
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Researchers led by Tajie Harris, PhD, set out to understand how the immune system responds when Toxoplasma invades CD8+ T cells, which are specialized immune cells responsible for killing infected cells.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 16, 2026
If the United States invades Greenland, she will flee her home with her daughter.
From Barron's ● Jan. 17, 2026
The afterglow of aristocratic grace, the poet noted, was obscured by the “rising tide of democracy, which invades and levels all things.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
Civil rights groups and privacy campaigners have consistently opposed LFRT, saying it invades people's privacy, and carries an unacceptable risk of misidentification.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025
I feel that squeeze of fear on my heart that invades on occasion, whenever “Mom” and “guy” are in the same sentence.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Jon Sandison, a high school history teacher and Shetland tour guide, said there were real concerns that Shetland could be attacked after Germany invaded Norway in 1940, during World War Two.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
The population has dropped from about 24,000 before Russia invaded to around 2,000 today.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
Joe Luc Barnes, a British journalist, was living in Moscow when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
He signed up to defend Ukraine when Russia invaded even though he had several children and was exempt - and fought until December 2023.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Yellow fever had invaded his body for a second time.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
They identified how these proteins recognize invading pathogens and demonstrated that they can be modified to detect multiple fungal threats.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
The larger context: The U.S. government was trying to end World War II without invading Japan, which could have meant millions of casualties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
When neutrophils encounter pathogens, they can release toxic substances and even destroy themselves, spilling long strands of biological material that form web-like traps around invading microbes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
Although Perez’s livestream proceeded for around 15 minutes before it was shut down, screenshots and clips rocketed across the internet, invading countless social media feeds.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Those guns are there to stop invading armadas,” Jesper said confidently.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
