Oc"cu*py , v. i. 1. To
hold possession; to be an occupant. "Occupy till I come." Luke xix. 13.
2. To follow business; to traffic.
Oc"cu*py (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Occupied (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Occupying (?).]
[OE. occupien, F.
occuper, fr.L. occupare; ob (see Ob-) + a word
akin to capere to take. See
Capacious.] 1. To take or hold possession of; to hold or keep for use; to possess.
Woe occupieth the fine [/end] of
our gladness.
Chaucer. The better apartments were already occupied.
W. Irving. 2. To hold, or fill, the dimensions of; to take up the room or space of; to cover or fill; as, the
camp occupies five acres
of ground. Sir J. Herschel.
3. To possess or
use the time or capacity of; to engage the
service of; to employ; to
busy.
An
archbishop may have cause to
occupy more chaplains
than six.
Eng.
Statute (Hen. VIII. )
They occupied themselves about the Sabbath.
2
Macc. viii. 27. 4. To
do business in; to busy one's self with. [Obs.]
All the ships of
the sea, with their mariners, were in thee
to occupy the merchandise.
Ezek. xxvii.
9. Not able to occupy their old crafts.
Robynson (More's Utopia). 5. To use; to expend; to make use of. [Obs.]
All the gold
that was occupied for the work.
Ex. xxxviii.
24. They occupy not money themselves.
Robynson (More's Utopia). 6. To have sexual intercourse with. [Obs.] Nares.
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