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.
The Constitution explicitly states that the right can be suspended only through an act of Congress and only “when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
From Slate • Jun. 18, 2026
It’s been roughly six decades since the British Invasion, when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones stormed across the Atlantic and changed the course of pop music.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
Am I The Drama? - a title inspired by a RuPaul's Drag Race meme - was released on Friday, and is her first full-length album since her 2018 debut Invasion of Privacy.
From BBC • Sep. 19, 2025
You could just as easily claim that the Beatles should have been deported because of the "British Invasion" of 1964.
From Salon • May 12, 2025
Invasion fever is mounting daily throughout the country.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
