Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To have as a necessary feature or consequence; entail.
  • transitive verb To relate to or affect.
  • transitive verb To cause to burn; spread to:
  • transitive verb To engage as a participant; embroil.
  • transitive verb To show to be a participant; connect or implicate.
  • transitive verb To engage (oneself) in a love affair.
  • transitive verb To occupy or engage the interest of.
  • transitive verb To wrap; envelop.
  • transitive verb Archaic To wind or coil about.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To roll or fold in or wrap up so as to conceal; envelop on all sides; cover completely; infold; specifically, in zoology, to encircle completely: as, a mark involving a joint; wings involving the body.
  • To entwine; entangle; implicate; bring into entanglement or complication, literally or figuratively: as, an involved problem; to involve a nation in war; to be involved in debt.
  • To bring into a common relation or connection; hence, to include as a necessary or logical consequence; imply; comprise.
  • In arithmetic and algebra, to raise to any assigned power; multiply, as a quantity, into itself a given number of times: as, a quantity involved to the third or fourth power.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To roll or fold up; to wind round; to entwine.
  • transitive verb To envelop completely; to surround; to cover; to hide; to involve in darkness or obscurity.
  • transitive verb To complicate or make intricate, as in grammatical structure.
  • transitive verb To connect with something as a natural or logical consequence or effect; to include necessarily; to imply.
  • transitive verb rare To take in; to gather in; to mingle confusedly; to blend or merge.
  • transitive verb To envelop, infold, entangle, or embarrass.
  • transitive verb To engage thoroughly; to occupy, employ, or absorb.
  • transitive verb (Math.) To raise to any assigned power; to multiply, as a quantity, into itself a given number of times.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To roll or fold up; to wind round; to entwine.
  • verb To envelop completely; to surround; to cover; to hide; to involve in darkness or obscurity.
  • verb To complicate or make intricate, as in grammatical structure.
  • verb To connect with something as a natural or logical consequence or effect; to include necessarily; to imply.
  • verb To take in; to gather in; to mingle confusedly; to blend or merge.
  • verb To envelop, infold, entangle, or embarrass; as, to involve a person in debt or misery.
  • verb To engage thoroughly; to occupy, employ, or absorb.
  • verb mathematics To raise to any assigned power; to multiply, as a quantity, into itself a given number of times; as, a quantity involved to the third or fourth power.
  • verb Status: involved

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb occupy or engage the interest of
  • verb have as a necessary feature
  • verb make complex or intricate or complicated
  • verb connect closely and often incriminatingly
  • verb engage as a participant
  • verb contain as a part
  • verb require as useful, just, or proper

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English involven, from Latin involvere, to enwrap : in-, in; see in– + volvere, to roll, turn; see wel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin involvere.

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Examples

  • And you can pretty well summarize the next three Habits with the expression "involve others in the problem and work out the solution together."

    Living the 7 Habits STEPHEN R. COVEY 2001

  • Cases to be heard this term involve immigration, affirmative action, gay marriage and health care.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • Cases to be heard this term involve immigration, affirmative action, gay marriage and health care.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • While Rice justifies her decision by saying the book will have a definite Christian framework and a focus on the theme of redemption, she admits that the future chronicle will once again involve the character Lestat and a fictional organization known as the Talamaska that is responsible for investigating the supernatural.

    Queen of the Damned I Could Use Another Few Bucks 2008

  • While Rice justifies her decision by saying the book will have a definite Christian framework and a focus on the theme of redemption, she admits that the future chronicle will once again involve the character Lestat and a fictional organization known as the Talamaska that is responsible for investigating the supernatural.

    February 2008 2008

  • Swipe-the-card-type machines are the MOST likely in involve cloning;

    Another bank story 2005

  • Hitting categories that correlate with the best records again involve reaching base.

    USATODAY.com - On-base percentage the key to success 2002

  • Now Professor Huxley would have readily admitted that the truth of a proposition may be denied whenever its terms involve a contradiction.

    Theism or Atheism The Great Alternative Chapman Cohen

  • Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this call involve risks and uncertainty and that future events may differ from the statements made.

    Altera CEO Discusses Q4 2010 Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha 2011

  • Nor did Mrs. Mittin involve her in much distress how her own trouble might be recompensed; the cap she found unfit for Camilla, she could contrive, she said, to alter for herself; and as a friend had given her a ticket for the ball, it would be mighty convenient to her, as she had nothing of the kind ready.

    Camilla: or, A Picture of Youth 1796

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