occupy

verb oc·cu·py \ ˈä-kyə-ˌpī \

Definition of occupy

occupied; occupying

transitive verb

1 :to engage the attention or energies of

They occupied themselves with video games.

2 a :to take up (a place or extent in space)

this chair is occupied

the fireplace will occupy this corner of the room

b :to take or fill (an extent in time)

the hobby occupies all of my free time

3 a :to take or hold possession or control of

enemy troops occupied the ridge

b :to fill or perform the functions of (an office or position)

will occupy the newly created office of chancellor
—Current Biography

4 :to reside in as an owner or tenant

occupies an apartment on a two-year lease

—

occupier

play \ˈä-kyə-ˌpī(-ə)r\ noun

See occupy defined for English-language learners

See occupy defined for kids

Examples of occupy in a Sentence

They have occupied the apartment for three years.
She occupies the house that her grandfather built 50 years ago.
They own another house that they occupy only three months out of the year.
They occupy the room next to ours.
This region was once almost completely occupied by forests.
Their house occupies a beautiful spot next to the ocean.
Much of our time is occupied by answering questions from our customers.
These questions have continued to occupy her mind.

Recent Examples of occupy from the Web

The Aztecs were going to count sophomore punter Brandon Heicklen, who transferred in over the summer, with the Class of 2018 but can now count him with the Class of 2017 in the spot Laviano had occupied.

— kirk kenney, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Aztecs notebook: Crowd of 50,000 expected for season opener against UC Davis," 29 Aug. 2017
There are just over 800,000 occupied housing units in the city, which means that somewhere under a sixth of all homes in the city have flood insurance.

— vann r. newkirk ii, The Atlantic, "How Hurricane Harvey Could Cause Long-Term Devastation," 26 Aug. 2017
He is charged with six counts of shooting into an unoccupied vehicle, one count of shooting into an unoccupied dwelling, four counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling and certain persons forbidden to possess a pistol, said Capt. Gary Hood.

— carol robinson, AL.com, "2nd suspect jailed in shooting at Tuscaloosa apartment complex," 25 Aug. 2017
For eight days, Lake County Sheriff John Buncich occupied a seat at the defense table in the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

— Post-Tribune, "Expert: Defendant taking the stand has benefits, drawbacks," 18 Aug. 2017
And the necessities for life science experiments (such as plants or microbe samples) and biologic samples from the crew (blood, urine and more) already occupy the limited freezer space available on the ISS.

— ben panko, Smithsonian, "ISS Astronauts Get a Sweet Taste of Real Ice Cream," 17 Aug. 2017
The street-levels of both buildings will be occupied by mixed-use retail spaces; specific tenants are not yet confirmed.

— brittany martin, Los Angeles Magazine, "Frank Gehry’s Next Mega-Complex Will Change the Look of Downtown Forever," 15 Aug. 2017
It's been a minute since a social media challenge has gained major traction — remember the Mannequin Challenge? — but there have been plenty of other, smaller challenges to keep the Internet occupied since.

— melissa minton, Teen Vogue, "Twitter Challenge Involving First Day of School Outfits Goes Viral," 11 Aug. 2017
Dave & Buster's may occupy up to 60,000 square feet on the mall's second level in the area near the cinemas.

— sheldon s. shafer, The Courier-Journal, "Mall St. Matthews food court to get major renovation," 10 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'occupy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of occupy

Middle English occupien to take possession of, occupy, from Anglo-French occupier, occuper, from Latin occupare, from ob- toward + -cupare (akin to capere to seize) — more at ob-, heave

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First Known Use: 14th century

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