invoke
verb (used with object)
to call for with earnest desire; make supplication or pray for.
was invoking
-
past progressiveof invoke.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
He told the panel he was invoking the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution under the advice of his attorneys.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
They noted that he had discussed his memo in media interviews with the permission of the president, though he was invoking the Fifth Amendment in speaking with investigators.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2022
Marianne Williamson was invoking Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy and Thoreau, barefoot in a brownstone in Brooklyn.
From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2022
But what he was required to do under the subpoena is to appear and assert, question by question, whether he was invoking executive privilege or not.
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2021
He cast up his eyes as if she had been canonized and he was invoking her in rapt worship.
From The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol by Alec Ball
