occupy

verb

USOK-yuh-py/ˈɑkjəpaɪ/UKOK-yuu-py/ˈɒkjʊpaɪ/

Formsoccupies, occupying, occupied

11 meanings of occupy

Practice

1
verbtransitive
To take up a certain amount of space.
Like a big box that takes up the whole shelf.
The piano occupies half the living room.
Boxes occupy most of the garage floor.
Similarfill, cover
2
verbtransitive
To live in a house, room, or other place.
Like a bird living in a nest it has built.
A young family occupies the house next door.
Tenants occupy every apartment in the building.
Similarinhabit
Oppositevacate
3
verbtransitive
To take and keep control of land using military force.
Like standing on a spot so no one else can stand there.
Enemy soldiers occupied the small town for months.
Troops occupy the border region to stop attacks.
Similarseize, capture, hold
Note
4
verbtransitive
To take up someone's attention or thoughts.
Like a song stuck in your head that you can't stop thinking about.
The puzzle occupied the children all afternoon.
Video games occupy his mind for hours.
Similarabsorb, engross, engage, fill
5
verbtransitive
To hold an official job or position.
Like sitting in the one chair that belongs to the boss.
She occupies the office of mayor.
Few women occupy top positions in the company.
Similarhold, fill
Oppositevacate
6
verbtransitive
To take up someone's time or keep them busy.
Like a long job that uses up your whole day.
The meeting occupied most of my morning.
Chores occupy her free time on weekends.
Similarfill, consume, engage
Note
7
verbtransitive
To fill something completely.
Like water filling a glass right up to the top.
Meetings occupied every hour of her schedule.
Files occupy all the available memory on the drive.
Similarfill, consume
Note
8
verbtransitive
To set up a surveying instrument at a marked point.
Like standing right on a marked spot before you measure something.
The surveyor occupied the station near the riverbank.
Crews occupy each marker to take careful measurements.
Note

Less common meanings

9
verbobsoletetransitive
To have sex with someone.
God's light, these villains will make the word as odious as the word 'occupy;' which was an excellent good word before it was ill sorted
1591, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt,”Here, occupy means to have sex with someone, which made the word sound rude.
Note
10
verbobsolete
To do business in a place, or to keep busy with a task.
not able to occupy their old crafts
1551, Ralph Robinson (tr.), Sir Thomas More's Utopia (in Latin)Here, occupy means to work at, so they cannot work at their old trades.
All the ships of the sea, with their mariners, were in thee to occupy the merchandise.
1611, The Holy Bible, King James VersionHere, occupy means to do business in, so the sailors traded goods.
Note
11
verbobsolete
To use something, or to spend or use it up.
They occupy not money themselves.
1551, Ralph Robinson (tr.), Sir Thomas More's Utopia (in Latin)Here, occupy means to use, so they do not use money themselves.
all the gold that was occupied for the work
1611, The Holy Bible, King James VersionHere, occupied means used, so this is the gold used for the work.
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of occupy apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from Latin occupare, meaning "to take or seize," made from ob ("to, on") plus capio ("to take"). It reached English through Old French.