Preoccupy

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Preoccupy \Pre*oc"cu*py\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Preoccupied}
     (-p[imac]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Preoccupying}.] [Cf. F.
     pr['e]occuper. See {Preoccupate}, {Occupy}.]
     1. To take possession of before another; as, to preoccupy a
        country not before held.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. To prepossess; to engage, occupy, or engross the attention
        of, beforehand; hence, to prejudice.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I Think it more respectful to the reader to leave
              something to reflections than to preoccupy his
              judgment.                             --Arbuthnot.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  preoccupy
       v 1: engage or engross the interest or attention of beforehand or
            occupy urgently or obsessively; "His work preoccupies
            him"; "The matter preoccupies her completley--she cannot
            think of anything else"
       2: occupy or take possession of beforehand or before another or
          appropriate for use in advance; "the army preoccupied the
          hills"
       [also: {preoccupied}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  70 Moby Thesaurus words for "preoccupy":
     absorb, absorb the attention, adopt, appropriate, arrest, arrogate,
     assume, beset, catch, charm, colonize, come uppermost, compel,
     conquer, drive, enchant, engage, engage the attention,
     engage the mind, engage the thoughts, engross, engross the mind,
     engross the thoughts, enslave, enthrall, exercise, fascinate,
     fill the mind, grab, grip, hog, hold, hold spellbound,
     hold the interest, hypnotize, immerse, impel, indent, infatuate,
     involve, involve the interest, jump a claim, make free with,
     make use of, mesmerize, monopolize, monopolize the thoughts,
     not let go, obsess, obsess the mind, occupy, occupy the attention,
     occupy the mind, overrun, possess, preempt, preengage, prepossess,
     requisition, seize the mind, sit on, spellbind, squat on,
     subjugate, take all of, take it all, take over, take possession of,
     take up, usurp