INVEST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does invest mean? 

• INVEST (verb)
  The verb INVEST has 5 senses:

1. make an investment

2. give qualities or abilities to

3. furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors

4. provide with power and authority

5. place ceremoniously or formally in an office or position

  Familiarity information: INVEST used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INVEST (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they invest    ... he / she / it invests   
Past simple: invested   
Past participle: invested   
-ing form: investing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make an investment

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

commit; invest; place; put

Context example:

Put money into bonds

Hypernyms (to "invest" is one way to...):

drop; expend; spend (pay out)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "invest"):

fund (invest money in government securities)

roll over (re-invest (a previous investment) into a similar fund or security)

shelter (invest (money) so that it is not taxable)

tie up (invest so as to make unavailable for other purposes)

job; speculate (invest at a risk)

buy into (buy stocks or shares of a company)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Antonym:

divest (reduce or dispose of; cease to hold (an investment))

Derivation:

investing; investment (the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit)

investment (money that is invested with an expectation of profit)

investor (someone who commits capital in order to gain financial returns)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give qualities or abilities to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

empower; endow; endue; gift; indue; invest

Hypernyms (to "invest" is one way to...):

enable (render capable or able for some task)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "invest"):

cover (invest with a large or excessive amount of something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody with something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

adorn; clothe; invest

Hypernyms (to "invest" is one way to...):

equip; fit; fit out; outfit (provide with (something) usually for a specific purpose)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody with something

Derivation:

investiture (the ceremony of installing a new monarch)

investment (the ceremonial act of clothing someone in the insignia of an office; the formal promotion of a person to an office or rank)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Provide with power and authority

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

enthrone; invest; vest

Context example:

They vested the council with special rights

Hypernyms (to "invest" is one way to...):

instal; install (put into an office or a position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "invest"):

consecrate; ordain; order; ordinate (appoint to a clerical posts)

coronate; crown (invest with regal power; enthrone)

enthrone; throne (put a monarch on the throne)

ordain (invest with ministerial or priestly authority)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

divest (deprive of status or authority)

Derivation:

investiture (the ceremony of installing a new monarch)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Place ceremoniously or formally in an office or position

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

induct; invest; seat

Context example:

there was a ceremony to induct the president of the Academy

Hypernyms (to "invest" is one way to...):

instal; install (put into an office or a position)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

 Context examples 

“So, Watson,” said he, suddenly, “you do not propose to invest in South African securities?”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A peal of laughter from Jo, Amy, Mrs. March, Hannah, and John caused him to open them the next minute, to find himself invested with two babies instead of one.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Sensation invested itself in form and color and radiance, and what his imagination dared, it objectified in some sublimated and magic way.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was invested with the woe of unnumbered generations, this plaint by which Buck was so strangely stirred.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

To me, death had always been invested with solemnity and dignity.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He never omitted the ceremony afterwards, and the gravity and quiescence with which I underwent it, seemed to invest it for him with a certain charm.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I have a few thousands to invest, d’ye see, and I think I’ll sink them in you.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you are self-employed, you may invest in your business, such as developing an app, changing and updating your website, launching a podcast series, or introducing another product in the digital realm.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A business structure used in Europe and Canada, in which shareholder responsibility for company debt is limited to the amount he/she has invested in the company.

(Limited Company, NCI Thesaurus)

Then he struck gold, invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)