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occupy

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occupy oneself (by something)

to keep busy by doing something. Don't worry. I can occupy myself by knitting or sewing. While waiting, I occupied myself by knitting a scarf.

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occupy someone with something

to keep someone busy with something. Can you occupy the child with this toy? Here, occupy yourself with this crossword puzzle.

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occupy with

v.

1. To fill, hold, or control some place through some set of things or people: The army occupied the town with their third division. The town built new office buildings and occupied them with workers from the health department.

2. To fill some period of time by engaging in or with something: I occupied my spare time with books. You'll never be able to occupy your entire morning with writing.

3. To engage someone in some activity or some object of attention: The teacher occupied the students with their science projects for the morning. During the cold winter afternoons, we occupied ourselves with card games.

See also: occupy