occupy

verb (occupies, occupying, occupied)

• 1reside or have one’s place of business in (a building):the apartment she occupies in Manhattan
• fill or take up (a space or time):two long windows occupied almost the whole wall
• be situated in or at (a place or position in a system or hierarchy):on the corporate ladder, they occupy the lowest rungs
• hold (a position or job).

• 2 (often be occupied with/in) fill or preoccupy (the mind or thoughts):her mind was occupied with alarming questions
• keep (someone) busy and active:Sarah occupied herself taking the coffee cups over to the sink

• 3take control of (a place, especially a country) by military conquest or settlement:the region was occupied by Britain during World War I
• enter, take control of, and stay in (a building) illegally and often forcibly, especially as a form of protest:the workers occupied the factory