# involve

/ˌɪnˈvɑɫv/ (US) · /ɪnvˈɒlv/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/involve
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. to include or require

verb · CEFR A2

to have something as a necessary part or result.

For teachers: to include something as a constituent part or as a necessary consequence of an action.

- The new project will involve a lot of hard work from everyone on the team.
- The proposed expansion of the railway network will necessarily involve significant capital investment and years of environmental impact assessments.

Usage: Takes a noun phrase or a gerund (-ing form) as a direct object.

### 2. to participate or engage

verb · CEFR B1

to make someone take part in something or to become connected to a situation.

For teachers: to cause someone to participate in an activity or to become implicated in a situation.

- We want to involve as many students as possible in the school play.
- The investigators were careful not to involve innocent bystanders in the high-profile legal dispute until they had gathered sufficient evidence.

Usage: Often used in the passive voice ('be involved in') or with a reflexive pronoun.

### 3. to complicate or entangle

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal · Literary

to make something complicated or to get someone into a difficult situation.

For teachers: to entangle or implicate someone or something in a confusing or troublesome situation.

- He didn't want to get involved in his neighbors' private arguments.
- The diplomat feared that a single misstep would involve the entire region in a protracted and unnecessary conflict.

### 4. to raise to a power

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Technical

to multiply a number by itself several times.

For teachers: to multiply a quantity by itself a specified number of times; to raise to a power.

- In the old manuscript, the scholar explained how to involve the number to the third degree.
- The treatise detailed an early algebraic method to involve the variable before calculating the final sum of the series.

Teaching tip: This mathematical sense is largely obsolete in modern textbooks, which prefer 'raise to the power of'.

## Examples

- The new project will involve a lot of hard work.
- Successful event planning usually involves coordinating with several different vendors at the same time.
- The proposed legislation would involve a complete restructuring of the current tax system, affecting millions of small business owners across the country.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.