OCCUPY (occupied)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does occupy mean? 

• OCCUPY (verb)
  The verb OCCUPY has 8 senses:

1. keep busy with

2. live (in a certain place)

3. occupy the whole of

4. be on the mind of

5. march aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation

6. require (time or space)

7. consume all of one's attention or time

8. assume, as of positions or roles

  Familiarity information: OCCUPY used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OCCUPY (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Keep busy with

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

busy; occupy

Context example:

She busies herself with her butterfly collection

Hypernyms (to "occupy" is one way to...):

work (exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "occupy"):

potter; putter (work lightly)

dabble; play around; smatter (work with in an amateurish manner)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

occupation (any activity that occupies a person's attention)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Live (in a certain place)

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

lodge in; occupy; reside

Context example:

he occupies two rooms on the top floor

Hypernyms (to "occupy" is one way to...):

dwell; inhabit; live; populate (be an inhabitant of or reside in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "occupy"):

move in (occupy a place)

stay at (reside temporarily)

squat (occupy (a dwelling) illegally)

crash (occupy, usually uninvited)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

occupancy (an act of being a tenant or occupant)

occupant (someone who lives at a particular place for a prolonged period or who was born there)

occupation (the act of occupying or taking possession of a building)

occupier (someone who lives at a particular place for a prolonged period or who was born there)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Occupy the whole of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

fill; occupy

Context example:

The liquid fills the container

Hypernyms (to "occupy" is one way to...):

be (occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "occupy"):

crowd (fill or occupy to the point of overflowing)

take up (take up time or space)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

occupation (the period of time during which a place or position or nation is occupied)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be on the mind of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

concern; interest; occupy; worry

Context example:

I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will occupy him

Derivation:

occupation (any activity that occupies a person's attention)

Sense 5

Meaning:

March aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

invade; occupy

Context example:

Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939

Hypernyms (to "occupy" is one way to...):

assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "occupy"):

infest; overrun (invade in great numbers)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

occupation (the control of a country by military forces of a foreign power)

occupier (a member of a military force who is residing in a conquered foreign country)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Require (time or space)

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

occupy; take; use up

Context example:

This event occupied a very short time

Hypernyms (to "occupy" is one way to...):

expend; use (use up, consume fully)

Verb group:

consume; deplete; eat; eat up; exhaust; run through; use up; wipe out (use up (resources or materials))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "occupy"):

be (spend or use time)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

occupation (the period of time during which a place or position or nation is occupied)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Consume all of one's attention or time

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

absorb; engage; engross; occupy

Context example:

Her interest in butterflies absorbs her completely

Hypernyms (to "occupy" is one way to...):

interest (excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "occupy"):

involve (occupy or engage the interest of)

consume (engage fully)

rivet (hold (someone's attention))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They occupy themselves

Derivation:

occupation (the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money)

occupation (any activity that occupies a person's attention)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Assume, as of positions or roles

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

fill; occupy; take

Context example:

the young prince will soon occupy the throne

Hypernyms (to "occupy" is one way to...):

do work; work (be employed)

Verb group:

assume; strike; take; take up (occupy or take on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

Penile intraepithelial neoplasia characterized by the proliferation of transformed basaloid cells that occupy the lower two thirds of the epithelial thickness.

(Grade II Penile Intraepithelial Neoplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

Although seagrass meadows occupy less than 0.2 percent of the world's oceans, they are responsible for more than 10 percent of all carbon buried annually in the sea.

(Sharks, the seagrass protectors, National Science Foundation)

The concept also refers to the unit of mass density (volumic mass) defined as the density of substance which mass equal to one gram occupies the volume one microliter.

(Gram per Microliter, NCI Thesaurus)

A space-occupying pathologic process that affects the liver parenchyma.

(Hepatic Mass, NCI Thesaurus)

An immature teratoma that arises from the ovary and is characterized by the presence of large amounts of immature neuroepithelial tissue that occupy more than three low power fields (40x) in any slide.

(Grade 3 Immature Ovarian Teratoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A moment, and I occupy my place in the Cathedral, where we all went together, every Sunday morning, assembling first at school for that purpose.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Anne hoped the gentlemen might each be too much self-occupied to hear.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

An immature teratoma that arises from the ovary and is characterized by the presence of rare foci of immature neuroepithelial tissue that occupy less than one low power field (40x) in any slide.

(Grade 1 Immature Ovarian Teratoma, NCI Thesaurus)

An immature teratoma that arises from the ovary and is characterized by the presence of foci of immature neuroepithelial tissue that occupy one to three low power fields (40x) in any slide.

(Grade 2 Immature Ovarian Teratoma, NCI Thesaurus)

The movement of one cell type into an area normally occupied by a different cell type.

(Invasion, NCI Thesaurus)