occupy

[ok-yuh-pahy]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR occupy ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), oc·cu·pied, oc·cu·py·ing.

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 initial capital letter) 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.

verb (used without object), oc·cu·pied, oc·cu·py·ing.

to take or hold possession.

(usually initial capital letter) to participate in a protest about a social or political issue.

adjective

(usually initial capital letter) of or relating to a protest about a social or political issue, as in Occupy movement; Occupy protest; Occupy candidate: the Occupy movement for social justice.

Origin of occupy

1300–50; Middle English occupien < Middle French occuper < Latin occupāre to seize, take hold, take up, make one's own, equivalent to oc- oc- + -cup-, combining form of capere to take, seize + -āre infinitive suffix

Related formsoc·cu·pi·a·ble, adjectiveoc·cu·pi·er, nounmis·oc·cu·py, verb, mis·oc·cu·pied, mis·oc·cu·py·ing.o·ver·oc·cu·pied, adjectivere·oc·cu·py, verb (used with object), re·oc·cu·pied, re·oc·cu·py·ing.self-oc·cu·pied, adjectiveun·der·oc·cu·pied, adjectivewell-oc·cu·pied, adjective

Synonyms for occupy

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR occupy ON THESAURUS.COM

2. use, busy. 5. capture, seize.

Synonym study

1, 3–5. See have.

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

Related Words for occupy

employ, involve, attend, fill, own, populate, sit, keep, cover, stay, maintain, remain, inhabit, hold, establish, capture, conquer, invade, overrun, busy

Examples from the Web for occupy

Contemporary Examples of occupy

The opposition responded with a month-long Occupy Abay (like Occupy Wall St) campaign, in which Udaltsov was one of key figures.
Behind Bars for the Holidays: 11 Political Prisoners We Want to See Free In 2015
Movements.Org
December 25, 2014
That tweet came from Shay Horse, whose bio lists him as an independent photojournalist with ties to Occupy Wall Street.
The Monsters Who Screamed for Dead Cops
Jacob Siegel
December 23, 2014
Personally, he says, he feels "more than ready" to occupy one the country's leading positions.
Ukraine’s Elections: The Battle of the Billionaires
Anna Nemtsova
October 26, 2014
Are you referring to Edward Snowden and the Occupy Movement, respectively?
Julian Casablancas Enters the Void: On the Strokes’ Friction, Why He Left NYC, and Starting Over
Marlow Stern
October 9, 2014
Check out this Android app designed by Code4HK for the coordination of Occupy Central!
A Double Agent App Targets Hong Kong’s Protesters
Jacob Siegel
October 1, 2014

Historical Examples of occupy

He decided, too, that he could think better with something mechanical to occupy his hands.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He tried to recall some forgotten detail of the business that might serve to occupy him.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
If this were not so, we should not occupy our present position in the world.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
So brief a time did all this occupy that Maulo, looking back, saw them.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
I had many things to occupy my mind, besides my regular tasks.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic

British Dictionary definitions for occupy

occupy

verb -pies, -pying or -pied (tr)

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 demonstrationstudents occupied the college buildings

to fill or hold (a position or rank)

Word Origin for occupy

C14: from Old French occuper, from Latin occupāre to seize hold of, from ob- (intensive) + capere to take

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

Word Origin and History for occupy

mid-14c., "to take possession of," also "to take up space or time, employ (someone)," irregularly borrowed from Old French occuper "occupy (a person or place), hold, seize" (13c.) or directly from Latin occupare "take over, seize, take into possession, possess, occupy," from ob "over" (see ob-) + intensive form of capere "to grasp, seize" (see capable). The final syllable of the English word is difficult to explain, but it is as old as the record; perhaps from a modification made in Anglo-French. During 16c.-17c. a common euphemism for "have sexual intercourse with" (sense attested from early 15c.), which caused it to fall from polite usage.

"A captaine? Gods light these villaines wil make the word as odious as the word occupy, which was an excellent good worde before it was il sorted." [Doll Tearsheet in "2 Henry IV"]

Related: Occupied; occupying.