MEANING
1. To appeal to an authority, principle, or power for support or help.
2. To call upon or summon a deity, spirit, or supernatural power through words or ritual.
3. To call or activate a program, function, command, or procedure.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- invoke a principle
- invoke protection
On the page
He invoked the rule only after its exception had benefited him.
She invoked the household’s promise of protection before naming the stranger.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- invoke
- Past tense
- invoked
- Past participle
- invoked
- Present participle
- invoking
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- invoke
- Present continuous
- am/is/are invoking
- Present perfect
- have/has invoked
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been invoking
- Past
- invoked
- Past continuous
- was/were invoking
- Past perfect
- had invoked
- Past perfect continuous
- had been invoking
- Future
- will invoke
- Future continuous
- will be invoking
- Future perfect
- will have invoked
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been invoking
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: invoke; invokes; invoked; invoked; invoking Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: invokes.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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