oc ‧ cu ‧ py W2 AC /ˈɒkjəpaɪ, ˈɒkjʊpaɪ $ ˈɑːk-/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle occupied , present participle occupying , third person singular occupies ) [transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ occupation , ↑ occupant , ↑ occupancy ; verb : ↑ occupy ; adjective : ↑ occupied ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: occuper , from Latin occupare ]
1 . STAY IN A PLACE to live or stay in a place:
He occupies the house without paying any rent.
The building was purchased and occupied by its new owners last year.
2 . FILL TIME if something occupies you or your time, you are busy doing it:
Football occupies most of my leisure time.
occupy somebody with (doing) something
Only six percent of police time is occupied with criminal incidents.
3 . FILL SPACE to fill a particular amount of space SYN take up :
Family photos occupied almost the entire wall.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say that something takes up time or space rather than occupies it:
▪
Work takes up most of her time.
▪
That bed takes up almost the whole room.
4 . CONTROL BY FORCE to enter a place in a large group and keep control of it, especially by military force ⇨ invade :
an occupying army
Students occupied Sofia University on Monday.
5 . occupy sb’s mind/thoughts/attention if something occupies your mind etc, you think about that thing more than anything else ⇨ preoccupy :
Work will occupy your mind and help you forget about him.
6 . USE to use something such as a room, seat, or bed:
Many patients who are occupying hospital beds could be transferred to other places.
7 . OFFICIAL POSITION to have an official position or job SYN hold :
Before becoming Prime Minister, he had already occupied several cabinet posts.
⇨ ↑ occupied