invade
Americanverb (used with object)
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to enter forcefully as an enemy; go into with hostile intent.
Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
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to enter like an enemy.
Locusts invaded the fields.
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to enter as if to take possession.
to invade a neighbor's home.
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to enter and affect injuriously or destructively, as disease.
viruses that invade the bloodstream.
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to intrude upon.
to invade the privacy of a family.
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to encroach or infringe upon.
to invade the rights of citizens.
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to permeate.
The smell of baking invades the house.
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to penetrate; spread into or over.
The population boom has caused city dwellers to invade the suburbs.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to enter (a country, territory, etc) by military force
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(tr) to occupy in large numbers; overrun; infest
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(tr) to trespass or encroach upon (privacy, etc)
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(tr) to enter and spread throughout, esp harmfully; pervade
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(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.
He moved to Brussels to cover European security in 2019, but shifted his focus back to Ukraine when Russia invaded in February 2022.
Forced to flee when Russia invaded, around 5.9 million Ukrainian refugees live outside the country and another 3.7 million are displaced internally, the UN Refugee Agency says.
From Barron's
Ahead of February 24 -- which will mark four years since Russia invaded -- AFP looks at how the lives of just four people were forever changed by the war.
From Barron's
Johnson and Sir Tony recounted the moment when Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, and the early days of the war, when the decision to support President Volodymyr Zelensky was made.
From BBC
The Beatles invaded his country; he never played a single gig in theirs.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
