invasion
Americannoun
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an act or instance of invading or entering as an enemy, especially by an army.
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the entrance or advent of anything troublesome or harmful, as disease.
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entrance as if to take possession or overrun.
the annual invasion of the resort by tourists.
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infringement by intrusion.
noun
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the act of invading with armed forces
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any encroachment or intrusion
an invasion of rats
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the onset or advent of something harmful, esp of a disease
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pathol the spread of cancer from its point of origin into surrounding tissues
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the movement of plants to a new area or to an area to which they are not native
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of invasion
1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin invāsīon- (stem of invāsiō ), equivalent to invās ( us ), past participle of invādere + -iōn- -ion; see invade
Explanation
An invasion is the movement of an army into a region, usually in a hostile attack that's part of a war or conflict. World history is full of descriptions of invasions. One country's army plundering or taking over a city or piece of land in another country is an invasion. You can call other mass movements invasions as well, like a horrifying invasion of your kitchen by cockroaches, or the invasion of a stadium by excited soccer fans. A common phrase is "invasion of privacy," which means an unfair intrusion into someone's personal space or private information.
Vocabulary lists containing invasion
Persepolis
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, "A Date That Will Live In Infamy" (1941)
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Excerpt from "The Diary of Anne Frank"
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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.
However, she contended that the central bank need not now “act with the same force” after the dramatic increases in energy prices in 2022-23 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026
Treatment lowered levels of important monomeric G-proteins involved in cell movement and invasion.
From Science Daily • Jun. 29, 2026
In March 2026, the classmate filed a civil lawsuit naming Griffin, ghostwriter Sam Lansky and the book’s publisher, alleging invasion of privacy, negligence and infliction of emotional distress.
From Salon • Jun. 25, 2026
Poland has been one of Ukraine's main allies during the Russian invasion, now in its fifth year, taking in hundreds of thousands of refugees and turning into a logistics hub for western support for Kyiv.
From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026
He worried that a failed invasion would be a huge humiliation to the United States.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
