occupied

1. 1
   adjective

   Busy with something, and therefore not available for anything else.

   The doctor was occupied with an emergency and couldn't see new patients.

   Her mind was so occupied with worry that she forgot the appointment.

   Similarbusy, engaged, preoccupied

   Oppositefree, idle

2. 2
   adjective

   Already in use or reserved, and therefore not available.

   The restroom sign showed that the stall was occupied.

   He found every parking space occupied when he arrived.

   Similartaken, engaged

   Oppositevacant, free, available, empty

   Note

   Here the word describes a place or thing, such as a stall, a seat or a parking space, rather than a person. That is the line between this sense and the "busy" meaning, which is said of people: she is occupied at the moment. To tell them apart, ask what is unavailable. If it is the space, this sense applies. If it is someone's time or attention, the other one does.

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of occupy.

   Protesters occupied the square until late evening.

   The family occupied the same house for three generations.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs: the simple past (they occupied the square) and the participle used with have and be (the house has been occupied for years). The participle is also where the adjectives come from. The verb's sense of holding someone's attention gives occupied with, and its sense of living in a place gives an occupied house. The y of occupy becomes i before -ed.

4. 4
   adjective

   Under the control of a foreign, usually military, power.

   Residents of the occupied territory needed permits to travel between towns.

   Resistance fighters smuggled supplies across the occupied zone.

   Oppositeunoccupied, free

   Note

   The adjective usually sits before a place name or a word like territory: occupied Japan, an occupied zone. It often comes with a date that fixes the period, as in a journey to occupied Japan in December 1945. It also stretches beyond politics. qntm's There Is No Antimemetics Division (2019) writes of "another occupied former human": a body taken over by a hostile presence, not a country.

5. 5
   interjection

   Spoken or displayed to signal that a toilet is currently in use and cannot be entered.

   He rattled the latch, and a muffled voice answered, "Occupied!"

   Just as I reached for the handle, the indicator clicked to "Occupied."

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