invade
Americanverb (used with object)
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invades,
present (3rd person singular)
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invaded,
past participle, past
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invading
present participle
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to enter forcefully as an enemy; go into with hostile intent.
Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
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to enter like an enemy.
Locusts invaded the fields.
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to enter as if to take possession.
to invade a neighbor's home.
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to enter and affect injuriously or destructively, as disease.
viruses that invade the bloodstream.
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to intrude upon.
to invade the privacy of a family.
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to encroach or infringe upon.
to invade the rights of citizens.
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to permeate.
The smell of baking invades the house.
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to penetrate; spread into or over.
The population boom has caused city dwellers to invade the suburbs.
verb (used without object)
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invades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
invaded,
past participle, past
-
invading
present participle
verb
-
to enter (a country, territory, etc) by military force
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(tr) to occupy in large numbers; overrun; infest
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(tr) to trespass or encroach upon (privacy, etc)
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(tr) to enter and spread throughout, esp harmfully; pervade
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(of plants, esp weeds) to become established in (a place to which they are not native)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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invadernoun
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reinvadeverb (used with object)
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invadableadjective
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quasi-invadedadjective
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uninvadableadjective
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uninvadedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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invadesimple
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invadessimple
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have invadedperfect
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has invadedperfect
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am invadingprogressive
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are invadingprogressive
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is invadingprogressive
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have been invadingperfect progressive
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has been invadingperfect progressive
Past
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invadedsimple
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had invadedperfect
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was invadingprogressive
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were invadingprogressive
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had been invadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of invade
First recorded in 1485–95; from Latin invādere, from in- in- 2 + vādere “to go, walk” ( see also wade)
Explanation
When you Invade, you aggressively take over or occupy a place. If a country's leader wants to gain more land, the military might invade a neighboring country. Not everything that invades is militaristic. Some things that invade are cultural, such as the phenomena of young, stylish people moving into a neighborhood that had never been thought of as cool before. In an instant, new restaurants and shops catering to the newcomers open and soon the area is overrun with people wearing, say, skinny jeans and complicated eyewear. Natives to the area lament, "This place has been invaded by hipsters."
Vocabulary lists containing invade
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 12–15
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Bronx Masquerade
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
Some clones develop changes that help them withstand cancer treatments, while others become better equipped to invade surrounding tissues and spread to other parts of the body.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026
Mr. Lee takes us viscerally back to that strike through flashbacks and news videos, and before the police invade we sense its atmosphere of hopeful possibility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
An epic tale inspired by Hitler's indecision about whether to invade Britain, Archer poured everything into it.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Why invade some place if you basically already control it?
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
I’m compelled to push, but why invade a space where I am not welcome?
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
If the United States invades Greenland, she will flee her home with her daughter.
From Barron's ● Jan. 17, 2026
The afterglow of aristocratic grace, the poet noted, was obscured by the “rising tide of democracy, which invades and levels all things.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
Civil rights groups and privacy campaigners have consistently opposed LFRT, saying it invades people's privacy, and carries an unacceptable risk of misidentification.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025
In an infected person, the fungus invades the body and causes symptoms such as fever, chills, sepsis and organ failure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2025
I’m laughing and the cold invades my lungs.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
Joe Luc Barnes, a British journalist, was living in Moscow when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Marimi argued the case should be dismissed because the United States had invaded his constitutional rights and violated extradition agreements between the US and Libya.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
The Rays weren’t the least bit intimidated by any of it, not even the Yankee fans who invaded their home at the Trop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The price of petrol and diesel had been largely falling since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Yellow fever had invaded his body for a second time.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
One of those signals is 5-oxoETE, which attracts immune cells equipped to attack invading microorganisms.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026
Some cells died, setting off an inflammatory response despite the absence of an invading pathogen.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026
By placing bets on acquiring a full fleet of uncrewed systems, including aerial and undersea drones, Taiwan hopes to build defensive capabilities intended to make its far more powerful adversary think twice about invading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Although Perez’s livestream proceeded for around 15 minutes before it was shut down, screenshots and clips rocketed across the internet, invading countless social media feeds.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Any glass had long since shattered, any wood had rotted, and nothing remained but metal frames, mortar, and stone crumbling in the grip of invading vegetation.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
