In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
occupies
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of occupy
Source: Wiktionary
Oc"cu*py, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Occupied; p. pr. & vb. n. Occupying.] Etym: [OE. occupien, F. occuper, fr.L. occupare; ob (see Ob-) + a word akin to capere to take. See Capacious.]
1. To take or hold possession of; to hold or keep for use; to possess. Woe occupieth the fine [/end] of our gladness. Chaucer. The better apartments were already occupied. W. Irving .
2. To hold, or fill, the dimensions of; to take up the room or space of; to cover or fill; as, the camp occupies five acres of ground. Sir J. Herschel.
3. To possess or use the time or capacity of; to engage the service of; to employ; to busy. An archbishop may have cause to occupy more chaplains than six. Eng. Statute (Hen. VIII. ) They occupied themselves about the Sabbath. 2 Macc. viii. 27.
4. To do business in; to busy one's self with. [Obs.] All the ships of the sea, with their mariners, were in thee to occupy the merchandise. Ezek. xxvii. 9. Not able to occupy their old crafts. Robynson (More's Utopia).
5. To use; to expend; to make use of. [Obs.] All the gold that was occupied for the work. Ex. xxxviii. 24. They occupy not money themselves. Robynson (More's Utopia).
6. To have sexual intercourse with. [Obs.] Nares.
Oc"cu*py, v. i.
1. To hold possession; to be an occupant. "Occupy till I come." Luke xix. 13.
2. To follow business; to traffic.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
13 February 2025
(verb) cause the failure or ruin of; “His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage”; “This play will either make or break the playwright”
In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.