occupy
to take or fill up (space, time, etc.): I occupied my evenings reading novels.
to engage or employ the mind, energy, or attention of: Occupy the children with a game while I prepare dinner.
to be a resident or tenant of; dwell in: We occupied the same house for 20 years.
to hold (a position, office, etc.).
to take possession and control of (a place), as by military invasion.
Usually Occupy . to participate in a protest about (a social or political issue), as by taking possession or control of buildings or public places that are symbolic of the issue: Let’s Occupy our voting rights!The Occupy Wall Street movement of late 2011 was a protest against economic inequality.
to take or hold possession.
Usually Occupy . to participate in a protest about a social or political issue.
Usually Occupy . of or relating to a protest about a social or political issue, as in Occupy movement,Occupy protest, and Occupy candidate:the Occupy movement for social justice.
Origin of occupy
1synonym study For occupy
Other words for occupy
Other words from occupy
- oc·cu·pi·a·ble, adjective
- oc·cu·pi·er, noun
- mis·oc·cu·py, verb, mis·oc·cu·pied, mis·oc·cu·py·ing.
- re·oc·cu·py, verb (used with object), re·oc·cu·pied, re·oc·cu·py·ing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use occupy in a sentence
At a time of great uncertainty, I’m finding it especially cathartic—while I sorely miss seeing my friends and family from around the globe, at least we occupy the same planet.
For that, the country needs utility-scale solar farms, which can take up a lot of space—they could occupy an area the size of Connecticut by 2030, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Doctors, especially, who didn’t have a bird’s-eye view of the hospital’s statistics, were far more occupied with the emergencies they were dealing with day to day, like broken bones and severe mental illness.
How an AI tool for fighting hospital deaths actually worked in the real world | Karen Hao | October 2, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewIf there’s an article on a particular topic from a publisher and that publisher also has a richer story panel, the latter would be shown rather than the individual story link — but in the same position the publisher would otherwise occupy.
Google gives publishers new content ‘Showcase’ on News, Search, Discover | Greg Sterling | October 1, 2020 | Search Engine LandIn an insulating material, meanwhile, the highest-energy band occupied by electrons is entirely filled, so there are no “spaces” for these electrons to move into.
William Henry Cosby occupies a permanent place in the American pantheon.
Garfield the cat occupies an understated and often overlooked position critical to the history of televised animation.
Garfield Television: The Cat Who Saved Primetime Cartoons | Rich Goldstein | November 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAt a time when few are disposed to see history as a branch of literature, Lepore occupies a prominent place in American letters.
Wonder Woman’s Creation Story Is Wilder Than You Could Ever Imagine | Tom Arnold-Forster | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis diagnosis occupies a uniquely dark and uncomfortable corner of medicine.
Doctors Have No Answers for Colombian Teens' Mass Hysteria | Kent Sepkowitz | September 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBetween a secular moralist and an ideologue, there is a softer, more human middle that Soyinka occupies.
Nigeria’s Larger-Than-Life Nobel Laureate Chronicles a Fascinating Life | Chimamanda Adichie | August 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe card table profitably occupies some six to eight hours daily of these old fellows' attention.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsIt was hard to hear you ridiculing an affair that occupies my serious thoughts.
Well over 70 now, healthy and p. 93energetic still, he occupies the position he did then.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowIt occupies a commanding position on a knoll and is surrounded by a group of fine trees.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car | Thomas D. MurphyIn an orbit made elliptical by the planetary attraction the sun necessarily occupies one of the foci of the ellipse.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
British Dictionary definitions for occupy
/ (ˈɒkjʊˌpaɪ) /
to live or be established in (a house, flat, office, etc)
(often passive) to keep (a person) busy or engrossed; engage the attention of
(often passive) to take up (a certain amount of time or space)
to take and hold possession of, esp as a demonstration: students occupied the college buildings
to fill or hold (a position or rank)
Origin of occupy
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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