What does "invest" mean?
A designated area of disturbed weather that is being monitored for potential tropical cyclone development.
Invest
/ɪnˈvɛst/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A designated area of disturbed weather that is being monitored for potential tropical cyclone development.
- Grammar: invest is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: clothe, empower, endow, accommodate.
- Useful contrasts: straitened, blow, boondoggling.
- Usage evidence: Our advice is that the company invest in new equipment.
How to use "invest"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "invest" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "invest" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "invest" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "invest" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "invest" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "clothe" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "invest", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A designated area of disturbed weather that is being monitored for potential tropical cyclone development.
Verb
- 1 To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in.
"We'd like to thank all the contributors who have invested countless hours into this event."
- 2 make an investment wordnet
- 3 To clothe or wrap (with garments). dated, transitive
"He was but shabbily apparelled in faded jacket and patched trowsers; a rag of a black handkerchief investing his neck."
- 4 place ceremoniously or formally in an office or position wordnet
- 5 To put on (clothing). intransitive, obsolete
"Cannot find one this girdle to invest!"
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 provide with power and authority wordnet
- 7 To envelop, wrap, cover.
"Night / Invests the Sea, and wished Morn delayes"
- 8 furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors wordnet
- 9 To commit money or capital in the hope of financial gain.
- 10 give qualities or abilities to wordnet
- 11 To ceremonially install someone in some office.
- 12 To formally give (someone) some power or authority.
"Madam, whatſoeuer you eſteeme Of this ſucceſſe, and loſſe vnualued, Both may inueſt you Empreſſe of the Eaſt: […]"
- 13 To formally give (power or authority).
"For he saith, if there can be found such an inequality between man and man, as there is between man and beast, or between soul and body, it investeth a right of government: which seemeth rather an impossible case than an untrue sentence."
- 14 To surround, accompany, or attend.
"The scene was not without a mixture of awe such as must always invest the spectacle of the guilt and shame in a fellow-creature, before society shall have grown corrupt enough to smile, instead of shuddering, at it."
- 15 To lay siege to.
"to invest a town"
- 16 To make investments. intransitive
- 17 To prepare for lost wax casting by creating an investment mold (a mixture of a silica sand and plaster).
- 18 To cause to be involved in; to cause to form strong attachments to. intransitive
"From early on in his career, Zola's work as a critic revealed just how heavily he was invested in the literary “dream of stone.”"
- 19 To inaugurate the Prime Minister of Spain after a successful parliamentary vote. Spanish
"The outcome also makes it very difficult for Feijóo to become the next PM, because he does not have the support to be invested as such, unless there are changes in the initial positions of key players such as the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV)."
Antonyms
Example
"Our advice is that the company invest in new equipment."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "invest"?
Common synonyms include: clothe, empower, endow, accommodate, adorn, afford.
How do you use "invest" in a sentence?
Our advice is that the company invest in new equipment.
How do you pronounce "invest"?
Pronounced /ɪnˈvɛst/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Middle French investir or Medieval Latin investire, from Latin investio (“to clothe, cover”), from in- (“in, on”) + vestio (“to clothe, dress”), from vestis (“clothing”); see vest. The sense “to spend money etc.” probably via Italian investire, of the same root.
Etymology 2
From investigate, by shortening.