[syn: invade, overrun, infest]
4. penetrate or assault, in a harmful or injurious way;
- Example: "The cancer had invaded her lungs"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Invade \In*vade"\, v. i.
To make an invasion. --Brougham.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Invade \In*vade"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Invaded; p. pr. & vb.
n. Invading.] [L. invadere, invasum; pref. in- in + vadere
to go, akin to E. wade: cf. OF. invader, F. envahir. See
Wade.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To go into or upon; to pass within the confines of; to
enter; -- used of forcible or rude ingress. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Which becomes a body, and doth then invade
The state of life, out of the grisly shade.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
2. To enter with hostile intentions; to enter with a view to
conquest or plunder; to make an irruption into; to attack;
as, the Romans invaded Great Britain.
[1913 Webster]
Such an enemy
Is risen to invade us. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
3. To attack; to infringe; to encroach on; to violate; as,
the king invaded the rights of the people.
[1913 Webster]
4. To grow or spread over; to affect injuriously and
progressively; as, gangrene invades healthy tissue.
Syn: To attack; assail; encroach upon. See Attack.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
invade
v 1: march aggressively into another's territory by military
force for the purposes of conquest and occupation; "Hitler
invaded Poland on September 1, 1939" [syn: invade,
occupy]
2: to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new
colleague invades my territory"; "The neighbors intrude on
your privacy" [syn: intrude on, invade, obtrude upon,
encroach upon]
3: occupy in large numbers or live on a host; "the Kudzu plant
infests much of the South and is spreading to the North"
[syn: invade, overrun, infest]
4: penetrate or assault, in a harmful or injurious way; "The
cancer had invaded her lungs"