involve

American  

[in-volv] / ɪnˈvɒlv /

verb (used with object)

involved, involving

1. to include as a necessary circumstance, condition, or consequence; imply; entail.

   This job involves long hours and hard work.

   Synonyms:

   demand, require, necessitate

2. to engage or employ.

3. to affect, as something within the scope of operation.

4. to include, contain, or comprehend within itself or its scope.

5. to bring into an intricate or complicated form or condition.

6. to bring into difficulties (usually followed bywith ).

   The investigation discovered a plot to involve one nation in a war with another.

7. to cause to be troublesomely associated or concerned, as in something embarrassing or unfavorable.

   Don't involve me in your quarrel!

   Antonyms:

   extricate

8. to combine inextricably (usually followed bywith ).

9. to implicate, as in guilt or crime, or in any matter or affair.

10. to engage the interests or emotions or commitment of.

    The professor involved many students in the disarmament movement.

    Her husband became involved with another woman.

11. to preoccupy or absorb fully (usually used passively or reflexively).

    You are much too involved with the problem to see it clearly.

12. to envelop or enfold, as if with a wrapping.

13. to swallow up, engulf, or overwhelm.

14. 1. Archaic. to roll, surround, or shroud, as in a wrapping.

    2. to roll up on itself; wind spirally; coil; wreathe.

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involve British  

/ ɪnˈvɒlv /

verb

1. to include or contain as a necessary part

   the task involves hard work

2. to have an effect on; spread to

   the investigation involved many innocent people

3. (often passive; usually foll by in or with) to concern or associate significantly

   many people were involved in the crime

4. (often passive) to make complicated; tangle

   the situation was further involved by her disappearance

5. rare to wrap or surround

6. obsolete maths to raise to a specified power

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involve Idioms  

1. see get involved with.

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Related Words

Involve, entangle, implicate imply getting a person connected or bound up with something from which it is difficult to be freed. To involve is to bring more or less deeply into something, especially of a complicated, embarrassing, or troublesome nature: I'd rather not to involve someone else in my debt. To entangle (usually passive or reflexive) is to involve so deeply in a tangle as to confuse and make helpless: The candidate tended to entangle himself in a mass of contradictory statements. To implicate is to connect a person with something discreditable or wrong: She was implicated in a plot to assassinate the governor.

Other Word Forms

• interinvolve verb (used with object)
• involvement noun
• involver noun
• overinvolve verb (used with object)
• preinvolve verb (used with object)
• reinvolve verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of involve

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English involven, from Latin involvere “to roll in or up,” equivalent to in- in- ² + volvere “to roll”; see revolve

Explanation

To involve means to connect. When you get involved in the Spanish Club, you attend meetings and events. If doing math well is involved in understanding advanced chemistry, that means it's a necessary part of it. When someone is very involved, it means they are engaged or connected to a lot of activities. When someone is self-involved, all they connect with is him or herself. If getting ice cream involves walking a mile to the ice cream shop, the exercise offsets the indulgence. When no exercise is involved, it's less healthy.

Example Sentences

This is especially true at work where conversations involve large amounts of knowledge.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

An officer said an investigation into a small business case regarding using pontoons has been approved by the local council, but operating a river bus would involve working with other authorities.

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026

This will be raw and uncomfortable because it will involve trying to build relationships between people who were hurt and who, in many cases, actively supported that pain.

From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026

This would involve capturing wild animals, breeding them in captivity, and then releasing juveniles back into the wild.

From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026

Janae and I exchange looks, because we already have our lives figured out and they don’t involve these new boys across the street.

From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi

Related Words

• affect
• associate
• catch
• commit
• comprise
• concern
• connect
• contain
• cover
• embroil
• engage
• hold
• implicate
• link
• mean
• prove
• relate
• require
• suggest