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to invade

to invade

380 4.4
To enter another country with soldiers to take control
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈveɪd/
: invadir
  • And then the Russians invaded Georgia and the country.
  • invade a country
  • invade and occupy
  • invading forces

And then when when Putin invaded Crimea, we did nothing.

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Examples

  • The enemy plans to invade the territory at dawn to seize control.

  • No sooner was it over than Russia invaded Ukraine, annexing Crimea.

  • A lot of this might change as Iran is expected to invade Israel soon.

  • Because Great Britain invaded India back in the day.

  • When his father was just a baby, the Japanese had invaded his village.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • And so when the US invaded Vietnam, we lost.

  • A month after we moved, Germany invaded Poland and the war broke out.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The Athenians were invaded by an army from the outside.

  • And in August 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and effectively detached two mountain enclaves from its territory.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Throughout history, various nations have attempted to invade neighboring lands for resources.

Synonyms

to conquer
vsto invade
397 3.7

To take control of a place by force or to beat something hard like a fear

enters with armed forces focusing on initial seizure rather than long rule
to occupy
vsto invade
324 5.9

To take control of a place, often by force

enters a region with armed forces aiming to seize and hold it
to overrun
vsto invade
20 7.0

Take control of a place by force, usually quickly

enters with armed forces but not necessarily so rapid or total

Antonyms

466 2.8

To stop taking part in a place or activity

How Aggressive

to conquer
397 3.7
to occupy
324 5.9
to invade
380 4.4
to raid
66 4.1
to encroach
27 7.3
to enter
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

invade infinitive
invaded past
invaded past participle
invading present participle
invades third person singular

Morphology

invade = in + vade

Although historically analyzable as in- + vade, 'vade' is not a standalone English word and the prefix sense ('in/into') is not transparently productive for average learners, so the meaning cannot be reliably derived from the parts.

Etymology

Invade comes from the Latin parts in- 'into' and vadere 'to go', the same 'go' part you see in words like evade. Think of soldiers 'going into' another country by force — that is why invade means to enter and take control by force.