Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Involve"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Involve \In*volve"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Involved}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Involving}.] [L. involvere, involutum, to roll about,
wrap up; pref. in- in + volvere to roll: cf. OF. involver.
See {Voluble}, and cf. {Involute}.]
1. To roll or fold up; to wind round; to entwine.

Some of serpent kind . . . involved Their snaky
folds. --Milton.

2. To envelop completely; to surround; to cover; to hide; to
involve in darkness or obscurity.

And leave a sing[`e]d bottom all involved With
stench and smoke. --Milton.

3. To complicate or make intricate, as in grammatical
structure. ``Involved discourses.'' --Locke.

4. To connect with something as a natural or logical
consequence or effect; to include necessarily; to imply.

He knows His end with mine involved. --Milton.

The contrary necessarily involves a contradiction.
--Tillotson.

5. To take in; to gather in; to mingle confusedly; to blend
or merge. [R.]

The gathering number, as it moves along, Involves a
vast involuntary throng. --Pope.

Earth with hell To mingle and involve. --Milton.

6. To envelop, infold, entangle, or embarrass; as, to involve
a person in debt or misery.

7. To engage thoroughly; to occupy, employ, or absorb.
``Involved in a deep study.'' --Sir W. Scott.

8. (Math.) 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.

Syn: To imply; include; implicate; complicate; entangle;
embarrass; overwhelm.

Usage: To {Involve}, {Imply}. Imply is opposed to express, or
set forth; thus, an implied engagement is one fairly
to be understood from the words used or the
circumstances of the case, though not set forth in
form. Involve goes beyond the mere interpretation of
things into their necessary relations; and hence, if
one thing involves another, it so contains it that the
two must go together by an indissoluble connection.
War, for example, involves wide spread misery and
death; the premises of a syllogism involve the
conclusion.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

involve
v 1: connect closely and often incriminatingly; "This new ruling
affects your business" [syn: {affect}, {regard}]
2: engage as a participant; "Don't involve me in your family
affairs!"
3: have as a necessary feature or consequence; entail; "This
decision involves many changes" [syn: {imply}]
4: require as useful, just, or proper; "It takes nerve to do
what she did"; "success usually requires hard work"; "This
job asks a lot of patience and skill"; "This position
demands a lot of personal sacrifice"; "This dinner calls
for a spectacular dessert" [syn: {necessitate}, {ask}, {need},
{require}, {take}, {call for}, {demand}] [ant: {obviate}]
5: contain as a part; "Dinner at Joe's always involves at least
six courses"
6: wrap; "The tower was involved in mist"
7: occupy or engage the interest of; "His story completely
involved me during the entire afternoon"
8: make complex or intricate or complicated; "The situation was
rather involved"


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