MEANING
1. To live in, use, or take up a place or space.
2. To take and hold control of a territory or site, especially by military force.
3. To engage someone's attention or fill their time.
Use it for
Habitation; presence versus vacancy; contested controlSpecify how presence changes who can use a location.
Words that belong together
- occupy premises
- occupy a district
- occupy public space
On the page
The family occupied the upstairs rooms while the shop operated below.
Students occupied the square to keep the council from closing it to the public.
A foreign army occupied the district, but local markets continued under restrictions.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- occupy / occupies
- Past tense
- occupied
- Past participle
- occupied
- Present participle
- occupying
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- occupy / occupies
- Present continuous
- am/is/are occupying
- Present perfect
- have/has occupied
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been occupying
- Past
- occupied
- Past continuous
- was/were occupying
- Past perfect
- had occupied
- Past perfect continuous
- had been occupying
- Future
- will occupy / occupies
- Future continuous
- will be occupying
- Future perfect
- will have occupied
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been occupying
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: setting. Neutral for ordinary use of premises; can also mean taking and holding a territory by force. Occupancy is not necessarily ownership. Base: occupy; third-person singular: occupies; past: occupied; past participle: occupied; present participle: occupying. Related derivations are listed separately under related.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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