involve

[ in-volv ]

/ ɪnˈvɒlv /

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verb (used with object), in·volved, in·volv·ing.

to include as a necessary circumstance, condition, or consequence; imply; entail: This job involves long hours and hard work.

to engage or employ.

to affect, as something within the scope of operation.

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

to bring into an intricate or complicated form or condition.

to bring into difficulties (usually followed by with): a plot to involve one nation in a war with another.

to cause to be troublesomely associated or concerned, as in something embarrassing or unfavorable: Don't involve me in your quarrel!

to combine inextricably (usually followed by with).

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

to engage the interests or emotions or commitment of: to become involved in the disarmament movement; to become involved with another woman.

to preoccupy or absorb fully (usually used passively or reflexively): You are much too involved with the problem to see it clearly.

to envelop or enfold, as if with a wrapping.

to swallow up, engulf, or overwhelm.

Archaic. to roll, surround, or shroud, as in a wrapping.
to roll up on itself; wind spirally; coil; wreathe.

Nearby words

involuted, involution, involutional, involutional melancholia, involutional psychosis, involve, involved, invt., invulnerable, invultuation, inwale

Origin of involve

1350–1400; Middle English involven < Latin involvere to roll in or up, equivalent to in- in-² + volvere to roll; see revolve

SYNONYMS FOR involve

1 necessitate, require, demand.

6, 7, 9 Involve, entangle, implicate imply getting a person connected or bound up with something from which it is difficult to extricate himself or herself. To involve is to bring more or less deeply into something, especially of a complicated, embarrassing, or troublesome nature: to involve someone in debt. To entangle (usually passive or reflexive) is to involve so deeply in a tangle as to confuse and make helpless: to entangle oneself in a mass of contradictory statements. To implicate is to connect a person with something discreditable or wrong: implicated in a plot.

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ANTONYMS FOR involve

7 extricate.

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Related forms

in·volve·ment, nounin·volv·er, nounin·ter·in·volve, verb (used with object), in·ter·in·volved, in·ter·in·volv·ing.non·in·volve·ment, noun

o·ver·in·volve, verb (used with object), o·ver·in·volved, o·ver·in·volv·ing.pre·in·volve, verb (used with object), pre·in·volved, pre·in·volv·ing.pre·in·volve·ment, nounre·in·volve, verb (used with object), re·in·volved, re·in·volv·ing.re·in·volve·ment, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for involvement

Did he denounce the involvement of organized crime in the abduction and disappearance of 43 students in the nearby city of Iguala?
Mexico’s Priests Are Marked for Murder|Jason McGahan|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In particular, it applies to immigrants who lost their U.S. citizenship after their involvement in World War II was discovered.
Nazis, Sunscreen, and Sea Gull Eggs: Congress in 2014 Was Hella Productive|Ben Jacobs|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So your involvement with On the Town started while looking for a So You Think You Can Dance prize?
Nigel Lythgoe on How to Save Reality TV, ‘On the Town,’ and ‘Brokeback Ballroom’|Kevin Fallon|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Involvement of people in the information they read,” wrote the Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain, “is an important end itself.
You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story|Walter Isaacson|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

An additional three were arrested in Armenia and four in Medellín for their involvement, according to ICE.
Colombian Beauty Queen Arrested for Running Child Prostitution Ring|Jason Batansky|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hathaway had told the truth when he had asserted that his own involvement was only one of many similar bargains.
The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush|Francis Lynde
In eight of the rabbits there was involvement of the mucous membrane of the stomach or intestines or of both.
The Toxicity of Caffein|William Salant
I mean, the involvement was very slight, and look how much involved you get just from meeting him once.
Warren Commission (11 of 26): Hearings Vol. XI (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
Both did their utmost to rouse the people against our involvement.
Emma Goldman|Charles A. Madison
We shall be faithful to our treaty commitments, but we shall reduce our involvement and our presence in other nations' affairs.
Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to 2006|Various

British Dictionary definitions for involvement

involve

/ (ɪnˈvɒlv) /

verb (tr)

to include or contain as a necessary partthe task involves hard work

to have an effect on; spread tothe investigation involved many innocent people

(often passive; usually foll by in or with) to concern or associate significantlymany people were involved in the crime

(often passive) to make complicated; tanglethe situation was further involved by her disappearance

rare, often poetic to wrap or surround

maths obsolete to raise to a specified power

Derived Forms

involvement, nouninvolver, noun

Word Origin for involve

C14: from Latin involvere to roll in, surround, from in- ² + volvere to roll

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with involvement

involve

see get involved with.