preoccupy
verb
pre·oc·cu·py
| \ (ˌ)prē-ˈä-kyə-ˌpī
\
\
preoccupied;
preoccupying;
preoccupies
Definition of preoccupy
1
: to engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or preferentially
2
: to take possession of or fill beforehand or before another
Examples of preoccupy in a Sentence
The question of life after death has preoccupied many philosophers.
Recent Examples on the Web
Welker’s not preoccupied with who’s in front of him at the major league level, either, i.e. Nolan Arenado. — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, "As Colton Welker readies for Arizona Fall League, he’s not focused on the third baseman ahead of him," 30 Aug. 2019 He was preoccupied with the latter part, which involves getting students hired so the school can earn money from ISAs. — Gregory Barber, WIRED, "Lambda School's For-Profit Plan to Solve Student Debt," 26 Aug. 2019 After waking up to last weekend’s tragic news, I was preoccupied and heavyhearted. — Vanessa Hua, SFChronicle.com, "Can bridge of magpies span divisions in U.S.?," 8 Aug. 2019 But what really preoccupied him was the profound intertwining, the ultimate indivisibility, of life and death. — Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, "Artist Hyman Bloom’s body of work is revered. And the bodies are cadavers.," 31 July 2019 Increasingly preoccupied with his reelection prospects, Trump has been suggesting that various voting blocs and the electorate as a whole have no choice but to vote for him next year. — Eli Stokols, Los Angeles Times, "Trump says Jewish people voting Democratic show ‘lack of knowledge’ or ‘great disloyalty’," 20 Aug. 2019 Her great-great-grandson Daniel Post Senning, of the Emily Post Institute, notes that etiquette issues around death still preoccupy people almost as much as weddings. — Bob Morris, Town & Country, "A (Candid) Guide to Celebrity Death Etiquette," 6 Aug. 2019 The lyrics instead mostly preoccupy themselves with wordplay that swings between excellence and something worse than a dad joke. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Chance the Rapper Wants You to Get Married," 30 July 2019 While the robber was preoccupied with the employee in the closet, the customers and the small child were able to escape into a nearby Subway restaurant where an employee locked them inside, police said. — Benjamin Peters, cleveland.com, "Armed man who robbed Elyria AT&T store remains at large," 17 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'preoccupy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for preoccupy
preoccupy
verb
English Language Learners Definition of preoccupy
: to be thought about or worried about by (someone) very often or constantly
See the full definition for preoccupy in the English Language Learners Dictionary
Keep scrolling for more