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.
The comments section turned to heavy sarcasm, with several gamblers asking whether the U.S. somehow used a “teleportation device” to extract Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores without actually invading the country.
From MarketWatch
After Nazi Germany occupied mainland Denmark during World War Two, the US invaded the island, establishing military and radio stations.
From BBC
The U.S. invaded Panama in December 1989 to seek his arrest.
From Barron's
Under federal orders in 2025, Los Angeles and other cities have been invaded and workplaces raided.
From Los Angeles Times
These guarantees would be “considered void” if Ukraine “invades Russia or opens fire at Russian territory without provocation,” the Kyiv Independent reports.
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.
