in·vade | \ in-ˈvād 
\
\invaded; invading
Definition of invade
1 : to enter for conquest or plunder
2 : to encroach upon : infringe
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Examples of invade in a Sentence
The troops invaded at dawn.
When tourists invade, the town is a very different place.
The cancer eventually invaded the brain.
Weeds had invaded the garden.
Bacteria invaded and caused an infection.
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Recent Examples on the Web The ghost, named Pipes, later uses the TV airwaves to invade the homes of BBC viewers watching the broadcast.
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San Diego Union-Tribune, "Theater Notebook: Bodhi Tree revisits ‘Mad King’ on eve of presidential election," 26 Oct. 2020 For clues to an explanation, Rubin and his colleagues looked to ACE2, the protein receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses to invade human cells.
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Megan Molteni, Wired, "A Global Data Effort Probes Whether Covid Causes Diabetes," 7 Oct. 2020 Witches exist on the margins, in the shadows, ever threatening to invade and disrupt the sanctity of the social order.
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Jeanna Kadlec, Longreads, "Deconstructing Disney: Motherhood and the Taming of Maleficent," 8 Oct. 2020 As impeachment was heating up in the U.S. in October, the Trump administration was ordering the withdrawal of troops from northern Syria, effectively clearing the way for Turkish troops to invade areas controlled by Kurdish forces.
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Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, "It’s been one year since the Trump impeachment began. These are the major moments of his presidency since," 25 Sep. 2020 The Japanese military, with the support of the I.N.A., launched Operation U-Go, a campaign to invade northeast India from Burma and smash a buildup of Allied forces in the area.
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Maria Abi-habib, New York Times, "The Forgotten Colonial Forces of World War II," 1 Sep. 2020 Even the rough outline of the time period seems to match with a vague awareness that, yes, the Mongol Empire under Kublai Khan did attempt to invade Japan around that time.
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Reid Mccarter, Washington Post, "Like ‘Ghost of Tsushima’? Here’s what you may not know about samurai.," 14 Aug. 2020 Manetho’s history of the Hyksos may have acted as propaganda that supported Egypt’s plan to invade the Levant under the expansionist New Kingdom.
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Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine, "New Research Reveals Surprising Origins of Egypt’s Hyksos Dynasty," 17 July 2020 Upon Kim's first request to invade in March 1949, Stalin was wary and did not want to be pulled into a conflict with the United States, which still had occupation troops in South Korea.
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Brad Lendon, CNN, "The US Army once ruled Pyongyang and 5 other things you might not know about the Korean War," 24 June 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'invade.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for invade
invade
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of invade
: to enter (a place, such as a foreign country) in order to take control by military force
: to enter (a place) in large numbers
: to enter or be in (a place where you are not wanted)
See the full definition for invade in the English Language Learners Dictionary
invade
verbin·vade | \ in-ˈvād \
\invaded; invading
Kids Definition of invade
1 : to enter by force to conquer or plunder
2 : to show lack of respect for
She invaded their privacy.
invade
transitive verbin·vade | \ in-ˈvād \
\invaded; invading
Medical Definition of invade
1 : to enter and spread within either normally (as in development) or abnormally (as in infection) often with harmful effects
protect the body from invading viruses branches of a nerve invade the skin area
2 : to affect injuriously and progressively
gangrene invades healthy tissue
Other Words from invade
invader \ -ˈvād-ər \ noun
\ nounKeep scrolling for more
invade
transitive verbin·vade
invaded; invading
Legal Definition of invade
1 : to encroach upon : infringe invading a constitutional right
2 : to make payments out of (a fund from which payments are not ordinarily made)
authorized the trustee to invade the principal for educational expenses
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Time Traveler for invade
The first known use of invade was in the 15th century
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