occupy
Americanverb (used with object)
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occupies,
present (3rd person singular)
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occupied,
past participle, past
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occupying
present participle
-
to take or fill up (space, time, etc.).
I occupied my evenings reading novels.
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to engage or employ the mind, energy, or attention of.
Occupy the children with a game while I prepare dinner.
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to be a resident or tenant of; dwell in.
We occupied the same house for 20 years.
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to hold (a position, office, etc.).
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to take possession and control of (a place), as by military invasion.
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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.
verb (used without object)
-
occupies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
occupied,
past participle, past
-
occupying
present participle
-
to take or hold possession.
-
Usually Occupy to participate in a protest about a social or political issue.
adjective
verb
-
to live or be established in (a house, flat, office, etc)
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(often passive) to keep (a person) busy or engrossed; engage the attention of
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(often passive) to take up (a certain amount of time or space)
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to take and hold possession of, esp as a demonstration
students occupied the college buildings
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to fill or hold (a position or rank)
Synonym Usage
See have.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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occupysimple
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occupiessimple
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have occupiedperfect
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has occupiedperfect
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am occupyingprogressive
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are occupyingprogressive
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is occupyingprogressive
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have been occupyingperfect progressive
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has been occupyingperfect progressive
Past
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occupiedsimple
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had occupiedperfect
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was occupyingprogressive
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were occupyingprogressive
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had been occupyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of occupy
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English occupien, from Middle French occuper, from 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
Explanation
When you spend a lot of your free time reading tea leaves, you occupy yourself with that pastime, meaning it takes up your time and keeps you busy. An army can invade another country and occupy its territory, and this use of the word reflects its original Latin meaning, which was "to seize." There are also less aggressive forms of occupation, as with the family of chipmunks who occupy your garden. If you are the mayor of your town, you occupy an important office. And if you're a fan of Andy Warhol, a series of Campbell's soup can paintings may occupy a prominent place on your walls.
Vocabulary lists containing occupy
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 2
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The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 2
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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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:
SMRs are likely to occupy narrower markets, including those for heavy industry, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Per the Journal, the hard-liners who occupy the country’s key military posts have focused on rebuilding their missile and drone arsenal.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
Gary Patterson had just been elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach at TCU, a job he would occupy for the next two decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
In general, guardians have fewer rights than private renters, external because they hold a "licence to occupy" rather than a tenancy.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
“I think it may be in your best interest to find something else to occupy your time,” he says when they reach the trains.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Although each occupies a distinctly separate universe, Espenson says they all fit the same pattern.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
The Mac Mini assembly line occupies a new 170,000-square-foot space at the Foxconn facility, which already makes AI servers for Apple.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Spain's World Cup winner Pedro Porro, who De Zerbi said is the "best in the world" in his role, currently occupies Spence's preferred right-back position at Spurs.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Personal photos are displayed throughout, his beloved leather-bound books fill the library, and a wide range of memorabilia occupies the office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
The ATC occupies a modest white house on a steep hill above the old part of town.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
For the first time in at least two years, however, technology occupied the second and third positions in his portfolio, based on data from Whale Wisdom.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Their closest living populations are now nearly 2,500 km away in southern Mexico, indicating that the species once occupied a dramatically different geographic range.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Then, a few short breaths later, Sanders was running for, and winning, the Arkansas governor’s office once occupied by Bill Clinton.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Under the pied-à-terre tax rules, a property can be exempt from the tax if it is owned by a trust with a sole beneficiary and is occupied by a primary resident.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
German armies had occupied most of Belgium and penetrated deep into France.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, Robert Brovdi, described them as a part of the larger strategy to make the Russian-occupied peninsula uninhabitable for the occupying forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
For the first time since 1985-86, England's top flight will begin without Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp or Guardiola occupying a dugout.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Recently in West Hollywood, a pack of coyotes began occupying an abandoned condominium construction site.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Migratory birds use the area during different seasons, with wintering species spending the colder months there and breeding species occupying the region during summer.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026
Officially, four occupying powers divided the city into Soviet, American, British, and French sectors.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
