occupy
[verb]
Synonyms:
- often passive: take up, divert, employ, engage, engross, involve, monopolize, preoccupy, tie up
- live in, dwell in, inhabit, own, possess, reside in
- fill, cover, permeate, pervade, take up
- invade, capture, overrun, seize, take over

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

oc‧cu‧py W2 AC /ˈɒkjəpaɪ, ˈɒkjʊpaɪ $ ˈɑːk-/ 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 Synonym : 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 Synonym : hold:
Before becoming Prime Minister, he had already occupied several cabinet posts.
⇒ occupied

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲