Meaning & use
invest
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitivefinance
To put money into a business, property or financial product in the hope that its value will grow or that it will pay you income.
Grammar: Often followed by in: invest in shares; with an object it names the amount: invest $500.
Patterns
- invest in something
- invest something in something
- invest in someone
She invested her savings in a small bakery.
Many people invest every month through a pension plan.
The firm plans to invest ten million dollars in new factories.
verbtransitive or intransitivefigurative
To spend time, effort or emotion on something because you expect it to pay off later.
Grammar: Takes in or into: invest time in learning, invest in your health.
Patterns
- invest time in something
- invest in something
He invested years in learning the violin.
It pays to invest in good relationships at work.
She invested a lot of energy in the project.
verbtransitiveformal
To formally give someone a rank, power or special quality, often in a ceremony.
Grammar: Usually passive or with with: invest someone with authority.
Patterns
- invest someone with something
- be invested as something
The council invested the new mayor with the chain of office.
The law invests the court with wide powers.
He was invested as a knight at the ceremony.
Word forms
| third person singular | invests |
|---|---|
| past tense | invested |
| past participle | invested |
| -ing form | investing |
Common combinations
- invest heavily
- The company invested heavily in solar power.
- invest wisely
- She invested wisely and retired early.
- invest in stocks
- Young people can invest in stocks with small amounts.
- invest time and effort
- We invested time and effort into training new staff.
- invest in the future
- Schools invest in the future by teaching children to read.
- invest in property
- He invested in property near the new station.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fund
- It means to provide money for something to happen, while invest implies hoping for a return.
- put money into
- It is a plainer, spoken phrase that does not suggest the careful planning invest often does.
- devote
- It fits time and energy only, and has no financial sense.
- speculate
- It involves taking bigger risks for quick gains, while invest can be steady and long term.
Opposites
Word family
- investment noun
- money or effort put into something for a later gain
- investor noun
- a person who invests money
- reinvest verb
- to invest earnings again
- investiture noun
- a ceremony giving someone an office or rank
Commonly confused: invest or invent? invest or investigate?
invest vs invent
Invent means to create something new, as in invent a gadget. Invest means to put money or effort into something.
invest vs investigate
Investigate means to examine facts to find out the truth; it has nothing to do with spending money.
Practice
My cousin decided to ______ her bonus in an index fund instead of spending it.
Choose one answer.
Invest in something is the pattern for putting money into it for growth. Invent and investigate look similar but have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “invest”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.