occupy

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oc·cu·py

(ŏk′yə-pī′)

tr.v. oc·cu·pied, oc·cu·py·ing, oc·cu·pies

1. To fill up (time or space): a lecture that occupied three hours.

2. To dwell or reside in (an apartment, for example).

3. To hold or fill (an office or position).

4. To seize possession of and maintain control over forcibly or by conquest: The troops occupied the city.

5. To engage or employ the attention or concentration of: occupied the children with coloring books.

[Middle English occupien, alteration of Old French occuper, from Latin occupāre, to seize : ob-, intensive pref.; see ob- + capere, to take; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]

oc′cu·pi′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

occupy

(ˈɒkjʊˌpaɪ)

vb (tr) , -pies, -pying or -pied

1. to live or be established in (a house, flat, office, etc)

2. (often passive) to keep (a person) busy or engrossed; engage the attention of

3. (often passive) to take up (a certain amount of time or space)

4. to take and hold possession of, esp as a demonstration: students occupied the college buildings.

5. to fill or hold (a position or rank)

[C14: from Old French occuper, from Latin occupāre to seize hold of, from ob- (intensive) + capere to take]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

oc•cu•py

(ˈɒk yəˌpaɪ)

v. -pied, -py•ing. v.t.

1. to have, hold, or take as a separate space; possess, reside in or on, or claim: The orchard occupies half the farm.

2. to be a resident or tenant of; dwell in.

3. to fill up, employ, or engage: to occupy time reading.

4. to engage or employ the mind, energy, or attention of: We occupied the children with a game.

5. to take possession and control of (a place), as by military invasion.

6. to hold (a position, office, etc.).

v.i.

7. to take or hold possession.

[1300–50; < Old French occuper < Latin occupāre to seize, take hold, make one's own]

oc′cu•pi`a•ble, adj.

oc′cu•pi`er, n.

occupy

Past participle: occupied
Gerund: occupying

Imperative
occupy
occupy

Present
I occupy
you occupy
he/she/it occupies
we occupy
you occupy
they occupy

Preterite
I occupied
you occupied
he/she/it occupied
we occupied
you occupied
they occupied

Present Continuous
I am occupying
you are occupying
he/she/it is occupying
we are occupying
you are occupying
they are occupying

Present Perfect
I have occupied
you have occupied
he/she/it has occupied
we have occupied
you have occupied
they have occupied

Past Continuous
I was occupying
you were occupying
he/she/it was occupying
we were occupying
you were occupying
they were occupying

Past Perfect
I had occupied
you had occupied
he/she/it had occupied
we had occupied
you had occupied
they had occupied

Future
I will occupy
you will occupy
he/she/it will occupy
we will occupy
you will occupy
they will occupy

Future Perfect
I will have occupied
you will have occupied
he/she/it will have occupied
we will have occupied
you will have occupied
they will have occupied

Future Continuous
I will be occupying
you will be occupying
he/she/it will be occupying
we will be occupying
you will be occupying
they will be occupying

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been occupying
you have been occupying
he/she/it has been occupying
we have been occupying
you have been occupying
they have been occupying

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been occupying
you will have been occupying
he/she/it will have been occupying
we will have been occupying
you will have been occupying
they will have been occupying

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been occupying
you had been occupying
he/she/it had been occupying
we had been occupying
you had been occupying
they had been occupying

Conditional
I would occupy
you would occupy
he/she/it would occupy
we would occupy
you would occupy
they would occupy

Past Conditional
I would have occupied
you would have occupied
he/she/it would have occupied
we would have occupied
you would have occupied
they would have occupied

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	occupy - keep busy with; "She busies herself with her butterfly collection" busy work - exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity; "I will work hard to improve my grades"; "she worked hard for better living conditions for the poor" putter, potter - work lightly; "The old lady is pottering around in the garden" smatter, play around, dabble - work with in an amateurish manner; "She dabbles in astronomy"; "He plays around with investments but he never makes any money"
	2.	occupy - live (in a certain place); "She resides in Princeton"; "he occupies two rooms on the top floor" lodge in, reside move in - occupy a place; "The crowds are moving in" stay at - reside temporarily; "I'm staying at the Hilton" squat - occupy (a dwelling) illegally inhabit, live, populate, dwell - inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of; "People lived in Africa millions of years ago"; "The people inhabited the islands that are now deserted"; "this kind of fish dwells near the bottom of the ocean"; "deer are populating the woods" crash - occupy, usually uninvited; "My son's friends crashed our house last weekend"
	3.	occupy - occupy the whole of; "The liquid fills the container" fill crowd - fill or occupy to the point of overflowing; "The students crowded the auditorium" take up - take up time or space; "take up the slack" be - occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere; "Where is my umbrella?" "The toolshed is in the back"; "What is behind this behavior?"
	4.	occupy - be on the mind of; "I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift" concern, interest, worry
	5.	occupy - march aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation; "Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939" invade attack, assail - launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with; "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"; "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week" infest, overrun - invade in great numbers; "the roaches infested our kitchen"
	6.	occupy - require (time or space); "It took three hours to get to work this morning"; "This event occupied a very short time" take, use up deplete, use up, wipe out, eat up, exhaust, run through, eat, consume - use up (resources or materials); "this car consumes a lot of gas"; "We exhausted our savings"; "They run through 20 bottles of wine a week" expend, use - use up, consume fully; "The legislature expended its time on school questions" be - spend or use time; "I may be an hour"
	7.	occupy - consume all of one's attention or time; "Her interest in butterflies absorbs her completely" engage, engross, absorb involve - occupy or engage the interest of; "His story completely involved me during the entire afternoon" consume - engage fully; "The effort to pass the exam consumed all his energy" rivet - hold (someone's attention); "The discovery of the skull riveted the paleontologists" interest - excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of
	8.	occupy - assume, as of positions or roles; "She took the job as director of development"; "he occupies the position of manager"; "the young prince will soon occupy the throne" fill, take assume, take up, strike, take - occupy or take on; "He assumes the lotus position"; "She took her seat on the stage"; "We took our seats in the orchestra"; "She took up her position behind the tree"; "strike a pose" do work, work - be employed; "Is your husband working again?"; "My wife never worked"; "Do you want to work after the age of 60?"; "She never did any work because she inherited a lot of money"; "She works as a waitress to put herself through college"

occupy

verb

1. inhabit, own, live in, stay in (Scot.), be established in, dwell in, be in residence in, establish yourself in, ensconce yourself in, tenant, reside in, lodge in, take up residence in, make your home, abide in the couple who occupy the flat above mine
inhabit abandon, desert, quit, depart, evacuate, vacate

2. invade, take over, capture, seize, conquer, keep, hold, garrison, overrun, annex, take possession of, colonize Alexandretta had been occupied by the French in 1918.
invade withdraw, retreat

3. hold, control, dominate, possess Men still occupy more positions of power than women.

4. take up, consume, tie up, use up, monopolize, keep busy or occupied Her parliamentary career has occupied all of her time.

5. (often passive) engage, interest, involve, employ, busy, entertain, absorb, amuse, divert, preoccupy, immerse, hold the attention of, engross, keep busy or occupied I had other matters to occupy me that day.

6. take up, cover, fill, fill up, utilize, pervade, permeate, extend over The tombs occupy two thirds of the church

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

occupy

verb

1. To live in (a place), as does a people:

inhabit, people, populate.

2. To seize and move into by force:

take over.

3. To cause to be busy or in use:

engage, monopolize, preempt, tie up.

4. To make busy:

busy, employ, engage.

5. To get and hold the attention of:

engage, involve.

Translations

يَحْتَلُّيَحْتَليُشْغِليَعيش في، يَسْكُنُ

obývat

besættefyldeokkupereoptagebebo

besetzen bewohnen beziehen einnehmen okkupieren

καταλαμβάνω κατέχω

ocupar vivir en habitar

asuamiehittäävallatavarata

occuper

zauzeti

búahernemataka, ná yfir

occupare occupazione professionale ergoterapia locatario

占める

점유하다

okupacijaprofesijaprofesinisužėmimas

aizņemtapdzīvotokupēt, ieņemt

bezetten gebruiken

annektere bebo inneha okkupere

okupić

ocupar

занимать захватить

stanovatizaposlitizasesti

ockupera

อาศัยอยู่ใน

oturmakzaptetmekkaplamak

sống

占领住占据

occupy

[ˈɒkjʊpaɪ] VT

1. [+ house] → habitar, vivir en; [+ office, seat] → ocupar
is this seat occupied? → ¿está ocupado este asiento?

2. (Mil etc) → ocupar
in occupied France → en la Francia ocupada (por los alemanes)

3. [+ post, position] → ocupar

4. (= take up, fill) [+ space, time] → ocupar
this job occupies all my time → este trabajo me ocupa or absorbe todo el tiempo
he is occupied in research → se dedica a la investigación

5. (= keep busy) → ocupar
to be occupied with sth/in doing sth → estar ocupado con algo/haciendo algo
he is very occupied at the moment → está muy ocupado en este momento
she occupies herself by knitting → se entretiene haciendo punto

6. (US) (Telec) to be occupied → estar comunicando

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

occupy

[ˈɒkjʊpaɪ] vt

[+ place, building, house] → occuper; [+ space] → occuper; [+ bed] → occuper
Houses occupied by the aged need central heating → Les maisons occupées par les personnes âgées doivent avoir le chauffage central.
Even small aircraft occupy a lot of space → Même les petits avions occupent beaucoup d'espace.

[+ country, city] [soldiers, invaders, demonstrators] → occuper

[+ time] → occuper
How do you occupy your time? → Comment occupez-vous votre temps?

to occupy o.s. with sth (= busy o.s.) → s'occuper à qch
to occupy o.s. with doing sth (= busy o.s.) → s'occuper de faire qch

(= fill) [+ position] → occuper
workers occupying key positions → les travailleurs occupant des emplois clés

occupy

house → bewohnen; seat, room → belegen, besetzen; hotel room → belegen; you occupy a special place in my heart → du hast einen besonderen Platz in meinem Herzen (inne)

(Mil etc) → besetzen; country → okkupieren, besetzen

post, position → innehaben, bekleiden (geh)

(= take up) → beanspruchen; space → einnehmen; time → in Anspruch nehmen, beanspruchen; (= help pass) → ausfüllen; can’t you find some better way of occupying your time? → kannst du mit deiner Zeit nicht etwas Besseres anfangen?

(= busy) → beschäftigen; to occupy oneself → sich beschäftigen; a thought which has been occupying my mind → ein Gedanke, der mich beschäftigt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

occupy

[ˈɒkjʊˌpaɪ] vt → occupare
this job occupies all my time → questo lavoro occupa or prende tutto il mio tempo
to be occupied with sth → essere preso/a da qc
to be occupied in doing sth → essere occupato/a a fare qc
she occupies herself by knitting → si tiene occupata lavorando a maglia
to keep one's mind occupied → tenere la mente occupata

occupy

(ˈokjupai) verb

1. to be in or fill (time, space etc). A table occupied the centre of the room.

2. to live in. The family occupied a small flat.

3. to capture. The soldiers occupied the town.

ˈoccupant noun

a person who occupies (a house etc), not necessarily the owner of the house.

ˌoccuˈpation noun

1. a person's job or work.

2. the act of occupying (a house, town etc).

3. the period of time during which a town, house etc is occupied. During the occupation, there was a shortage of food.

ˌoccuˈpational adjective

of, or caused by, a person's job. an occupational disease.

ˈoccupier noun

an occupant.

occupy

→ يَحْتَلُّ obývat besætte bewohnen καταλαμβάνω ocupar asua occuper zauzeti occupare 占める 점유하다 gebruiken bebo okupić ocupar занимать ockupera อาศัยอยู่ใน oturmak sống 占领

occupy

v. ocupar, llenar.

References in classic literature ?

With regard to narrow passes, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.

With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.

View in context

The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefs escorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to occupy. It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara since she had been brought upon the field.

View in context

Slowly pursuing my walk, I proposed to myself to occupy my mind to some useful purpose by arranging beforehand the composition of the letter which Miss Dunross was to write.

The writing of the letter would occupy us, at any rate.

View in context

What place will the moon occupy in the heavens at the moment of the projectile's departure?"

-- If the shot should preserve continuously its initial velocity of 12,000 yards per second, it would require little more than nine hours to reach its destination; but, inasmuch as that initial velocity will be continually decreasing, it will occupy 300,000 seconds, that is 83hrs.

As to the sixth question, "What place will the moon occupy in the heavens at the moment of the projectile's departure?"

View in context

She ascertained from old Mazey that it was his master's custom, during the winter and spring months, to occupy the rooms in the north wing; and during the summer and autumn to cross the Arctic passage of "Freeze-your-Bones," and live in the eastward apartments which looked out on the garden.

The Trust might be locked up in any one of some twenty receptacles for papers, situated in four different rooms; and which room was the likeliest to look in, which receptacle was the most promising to begin with, which position among other heaps of papers the one paper needful might be expected to occupy, was more than she could say.

View in context

Contrary to the arrangement followed for that of the Earth and Mars, the continents occupy more particularly the southern hemisphere of the lunar globe.

Not only their formation, but their situation and aspect remind one of the terrestrial oceans; but again, as on earth, these seas occupy the greater portion of the globe.