involve

• POS: Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: in=volve

CIDE DICTIONARY

involve, v. t. [L. involvere, involutum, to roll about, wrap up; pref. in- in + volvere to roll: cf. OF. involver. See Voluble, and cf. Involute.].

•  To roll or fold up; to wind round; to entwine.  [1913 Webster]

  "Some of serpent kind . . . involved
  Their snaky folds."  [1913 Webster]
•  To envelop completely; to surround; to cover; to hide; to involve in darkness or obscurity.  [1913 Webster]

  "And leave a singèd bottom all involved
  With stench and smoke."  [1913 Webster]
•  To complicate or make intricate, as in grammatical structure.  Locke.  [1913 Webster]
•  To connect with something as a natural or logical consequence or effect; to include necessarily; to imply.  [1913 Webster]

  "He knows
  His end with mine involved."  [1913 Webster]

  "The contrary necessarily involves a contradiction."  [1913 Webster]
•  To take in; to gather in; to mingle confusedly; to blend or merge.  [1913 Webster]

  "The gathering number, as it moves along,
  Involves a vast involuntary throng."  [1913 Webster]

  "Earth with hell
  To mingle and involve."  [1913 Webster]
•  To envelop, infold, entangle, or embarrass; as, to involve a person in debt or misery.  [1913 Webster]
•  To engage thoroughly; to occupy, employ, or absorb.  Sir W. Scott.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

involve, v.tr.
1 (often foll. by in) cause (a person or thing) to participate, or share the experience or effect (in a situation, activity, etc.).
2 imply, entail, make necessary.
3 (foll. by in) implicate (a person in a charge, crime, etc.).
4 include or affect in its operations.
5 (as involved adj.) a (often foll. by in) concerned or interested. b complicated in thought or form.

Etymology

ME f. L involvere involut- (as IN-(2), volvere roll)

THESAURUS

involve

absorb, absorb the attention, adorn, affect, affect the interest, allegorize, allude to, answer to, appertain to, apply to, approve, argue, arrest, assail, associate with, assume, attack, attest, attract, ball up, be indicative of, be significant of, be symptomatic of, bear on, bear upon, belong to, bespeak, betoken, breathe, bring, bring to mind, burden, call for, catch, catch up, catch up in, censure, characterize, charm, close, compass, compass about, complicate, comprehend, comprise, concern, confound, confuse, connect, connect with, connote, contain, convolute, correspond to, count in, cover, cramp, criminate, cripple, cry out against, cry out on, cry shame upon, cumber, deal with, decorate, demonstrate, denominate, denote, differentiate, disclose, display, draw in, elaborate, embarrass, embay, embellish, embody, embosom, embrace, embrangle, embroider, embroil, enchant, enclasp, enclose, encompass, encumber, enfold, engage, engage the attention, engage the mind, engage the thoughts, engross, engross the mind, engross the thoughts, enmesh, enrich, ensnarl, entail, entangle, enthrall, entoil, entrammel, entrap, entwine, envelop, environ, enwrap, evidence, evince, excite, excite interest, exercise, exhibit, express, fascinate, festoon, fetter, flourish, foul up, furnish evidence, gild, give evidence, give indication of, give token, go around, go round, go to show, grab, grip, hamper, hamstring, handicap, have, have connection with, highlight, hint, hobble, hold, hold spellbound, hold the interest, hypnotize, identify, illustrate, immerse, impede, implicate, imply, import, impugn, include, incorporate, incriminate, inculpate, indicate, infer, insinuate, interest, intimate, invest, invite, involve in, involve the interest, knot, lame, lap, lead to, liaise with, lime, link with, load with ornament, louse up, lumber, manifest, mark, mean, mean to say, mesmerize, mess up, mire, mix up, monopolize, muck up, muddle, necessitate, net, note, number among, obsess, occupy, occupy the attention, ornament, overcharge, overlay, overload, perplex, pertain to, pique, point indirectly to, point to, preoccupy, press down, presume, presuppose, provoke, ramify, ravel, refer to, regard, relate to, require, respect, reveal, saddle with, screw up, set forth, shackle, show, show signs of, signalize, signify, snarl, snarl up, speak for itself, speak volumes, spellbind, stand for, stimulate, subsume, suck into, suggest, suppose, surround, symptomatize, symptomize, take, take for granted, take in, take up, tangle, tantalize, tell, tend to show, testify, tickle, tie in with, titillate, toil, touch, touch upon, trammel, treat of, trick out, varnish, weigh down, wrap

ROGET THESAURUS

involve

Composition

VB be composed of, be made of, be formed of, be made up of, consist of, be resolved into, include, contain, hold, comprehend, take in, admit, embrace, embody, involve, implicate, drag into, compose, constitute, form, make, make up, fill up, build up, enter into the composition of.

Derangement

VB derange, disarrange, misarrange, displace, misplace, mislay, discompose, disorder, deorganize, discombobulate, disorganize, embroil, unsettle, disturb, confuse, trouble, perturb, jumble, tumble, shuffle, randomize, huddle, muddle, toss, hustle, fumble, riot, bring into disorder, put into disorder, throw into disorder, muss, break the ranks, disconcert, convulse, break in upon, unhinge, dislocate, put out of joint, throw out of gear, turn topsy-turvy, bedevil, complicate, involve, perplex, confound, imbrangle, embrangle, tangle, entangle, ravel, tousle, towzle, dishevel, ruffle, rumple, litter, scatter, mix, rearrange.

Clothing

VB invest, cover, envelope, lap, involve, inwrap, enwrap, wrap, fold up, wrap up, lap up, muffle up, overlap, sheath, swathe, swaddle, roll up in, circumvest, vest, clothe, array, dress, dight, drape, robe, enrobe, attire, apparel, accounter, rig, fit out, deck, perk, equip, harness, caparison, wear, don, put on, huddle on, slip on, mantle.

Evidence

VB be evidence, evince, show, betoken, tell of, indicate, imply, involve, argue, bespeak, breathe, have weight, carry weight, tell, speak volumes, speak for itself, rest upon, depend upon, repose on, bear witness, give evidence, testify, depose, witness, vouch for, sign, seal, undersign, set one's hand and seal, sign and seal, deliver as one's act and deed, certify, attest, acknowledge, make absolute, confirm, prove (demonstrate), indorse, countersign, corroborate, support, ratify, bear out, uphold, warrant, adduce, attest, cite, quote, refer to, appeal to, call, call to witness, bring forward, bring into court, allege, plead, produce witnesses, confront witnesses, place into evidence, mark into evidence, collect evidence, bring together evidence, rake up evidence, experiment, have a case, make out a case, establish, authenticate, substantiate, verify, make good, quote chapter and verse, bring home to, bring to book.

Meaning

VB mean, signify, express, import, purport, convey, imply, breathe, indicate, bespeak, bear a sense, tell of, speak of, touch on, point to, allude to, drive at, involve, declare, understand by.

Implication

VB be latent, lurk, smolder, underlie, make no sign, escape observation, escape detection, escape recognition, lie hid, laugh in one's sleeve, keep back, involve, imply, understand, allude to, infer, leave an inference, entail, whisper, read between the lines.