Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use invoke in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Invoke means to call upon (a person, a god) for help, assistance or guidance. Example: “The envoy invoked the King of Kings's magnanimity to reduce his province's tribute after another drought.”

Examples of invoke by meaning

verbTo solicit, petition for, appeal to a favorable attitude.

  • The envoy invoked the King of Kings's magnanimity to reduce his province's tribute after another drought.
  • Whatever the pressures that have invoked the Minister's diktat, the outcome is Gilbertian.1964 May, “News and Comment: Minister hamstrings BR workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 291

verbTo call to mind (something) for some purpose.

  • It is easier to invoke or to deplore democracy than to say exactly what it is.1912, William Sharp McKechnie, The New Democracy and the Constitution

verbTo appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority.

  • In certain Christian circles, invoking the Bible constitutes irrefutable proof.

verbTo conjure up with incantations.

  • This satanist ritual invokes Beelzebub.

verbTo bring about as an inevitable consequence.

  • Blasphemy is taboo as it may invoke divine wrath.

verbTo cause (a program or subroutine) to execute.

  • Interactive programs let the users enter choices and invoke the corresponding routines.
  • C++ lets you invoke an operator function either by calling the function or by using the overloaded operator with its usual syntax.2011, Stephen Prata, C++ Primer Plus

More sentences with invoke

  • The suspect quickly invoked his Miranda rights.From the entry Miranda right
  • I’m a child of the late 70s, and for me, Cassette Futurism invokes pure nostalgia.2026 April 9, Phil Rowley, “From Cassette Futurism to Friction Maxing: Why we want tactile media experiences again”, in The Media Leader…. From the entry cassette futurism
  • A guest brought up Scott Alexander, one of the scene's microcelebrities, who is often invoked mononymically.2024 March 18, Andrew Marantz, “О.К., Doomer”, in The New Yorker, page 48. From the entry microcelebrity
  • The project invokes aesthetics particularly associated with children: play, craft, and amateurism.2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 86. From the entry shadow play
  • Invoking cancer is a scare tactic, not a health education strategy.2018 January 2, Samantha D. Gottlieb, “9. The “Tragically Underused” Vaccine”, in Not Quite a Cancer Vaccine. Selling HPV and Cervical…. From the entry scare tactic
  • At the same time that they invoke Christian identity, the civilizationists also stress their secularism.2017 December 6, Rogers Brubaker, “The New Language of European Populism”, in brubaker.scholar.ss.ucla.edu, page 4. From the entry preoccupation
  • When the selected item is double tapped, it will invoke the command as desired.2015 October 29, Stewart Melart, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus for Seniors: The Complete Guide (1), Conceptual Kings. From the entry double tap
  • Secondly, the rights invoked by the applicants were deeply personal in nature.2012 November 13, European Court of Human Rights, Hristozov and others v. Bulgaria, number 47039/11, marginal 68. From the entry strike out
  • Others will be bullysome as if to invoke some right that they are allowed over.2012, steven norton, Defence Against The Dark Arts. From the entry bullysome
  • The exhalative model invokes the influence of regional fluid exhalation on surficial alteration.2012, Manfred Schidlowski, Stjepko Golubic, Michael M. Kimberley, Early Organic Evolution. From the entry exhalative
  • These allow scripts to specify functions that should be invoked asynchronously when certain events occur.2011, David Flanagan, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide. From the entry asynchronously
  • Simulated risk can invoke an alief of danger in subjects using a virtual environment.2011, Derek Harter, Shulan Lu, Pratyush Kotturu, Devin Pierce, “An Immersive Virtual Environment for Varying Risk and Immersion for…. From the entry alief
  • After an entry has been invoked in a cascaded menu, both it and its parent are unposted.2009, John K. Ousterhout, Ken Jones ·, Tcl and the Tk Toolkit. From the entry cascaded
  • That is, we need to invoke the transworld identity of B in W₁ with B in W₂.2009, Daniel Stoljar, “The Argument from Revelation”, in David Braddon-Mitchell, Robert Nola, editors, Conceptual Analysis and…. From the entry haecceitistically
  • Unlike the standard ‘Quine–Putnam’ argument given in Sect. 1, these arguments do not invoke confirmational holism.2007 September 28, David Liggins, “Quine, Putnam, and the ‘Quine–Putnam’ Indispensability Argument”, in Erkenntnis, volume 68, number 1…. From the entry confirmational
  • What one finds there instead is wikilawyering — cryptic, acronym-laden debate invoking protocol and precedent.2007, Bidoun: A Quarterly Forum for Middle Eastern Talent. From the entry wikilawyering
  • The result is a new multicast delegate that invokes both of the original implementing methods.2005, Jesse Liberty, Programming C#: Building .NET Applications with C#. From the entry multicast
  • However, the recognition of sea-floor spreading made sense of continental splitting without having to invoke earth expansion.2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 143. From the entry seafloor spreading
  • It can be developed by using the invoked light of the First Iliaster to create protective aquastors.2001, Timothy A. Storlie, “Chapter Twelve Polishing the Chalice: Imperil and Esoteric Purity Practices”, in Initiation Into the Grail…. From the entry aquastor
  • Invoking Aristotelian intuition, we will characterize each being as projecting an "entelechial" design.2000, Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, Impetus and Equipoise in the Life-Strategies of Reason: Logos and Life: Book 4 [Analecta Husserliana: The…. From the entry entelechial
  • To abate cold weather, the aid of tutelaries such as West Wind, Rain, and Thunder was invoked.1998, David H[eath] French, Kathrine S[tory] French, “Wasco, Wishram, and Cascades”, in Deward E. Walker, Jr., editor, Plateau (Handbook…. From the entry tutelary
  • Invoked, Othala brings ancestral power and supports values and traditions of the family.1998, Silver RavenWolf, American Folk Magick: Charms, Spells & Herbals, St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, page 232. From the entry othala
  • The factor invoked by Kalecki to rationalize the phenomenon, however, appropinquates Sraffa's observations on capital markets.1995. Ed. John Cunningham Wood, Piero Sraffa: Critical Assessments, page 67. From the entry appropinquate
  • She again invokes Isis to help her and orders her people to make preparations for the attack.1995, deTraci Regula, The Mysteries of Isis: Her Worship and Magick, Llewellyn Publications, published 2001, →ISBN, page 94. From the entry pharaohess
  • He invokes the classic dried herbs de Provence as an inherited license to strew greens willy-nilly.1995 December 4, Gael Greene, “To Grand-mère’s House”, in New York, page 151. From the entry herbs de Provence
  • Cuomo, though, has been reluctant to invoke the symbolism of another R-word: Republican.1993, Sam Roberts, “Mayoral Campaign Tests The Loyalty of Democrats”, in The New York Times, page B2. From the entry r-word
  • She invokes Felix as an excuse for her mischoices and as an emblem of a better future.1991, Mary Frances Rogers, Novels, Novelists, and Readers. From the entry mischoice
  • The procedure can only be invoked by name as a subroutine.1987, Douglas S. Stivison, Introduction to Turbo Pascal, Sybex, →ISBN. From the entry goto
  • Ironstone chipped against ironstone invokes a spark and a wisp of the same heady smoke.1977, J. M. Coetzee, In the Heart of the Country, Penguin, published 1982, page 61. From the entry ironstone
  • The clerical opponents of the Reformation systematically invoked Galfridian prophecy to justify their resistance.1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 380. From the entry Galfridian
  • In vain did the promoters of the new fad invoke plausible arguments.1928 July 8, “Lizards and Snakes for Gowns, Gloves and Automobile Cushions; Eight Thousand Java Lizards Trapped in the Island Jungle, and…. From the entry snakephobia
  • We employ a term of discourse; we invoke a meaning, namely, the potential consequence of the existence.1925, John Dewey. Experience and Nature In The Later Works of John Dewey, Vol. 1, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale (IL), p.…. From the entry proleptically

Meaning of invoke

  1. verb To call upon (a person, a god) for help, assistance or guidance.
  2. verb To solicit, petition for, appeal to a favorable attitude.
  3. verb To call another ship.

Full definition of invoke

Questions about invoke in a sentence

How do you use invoke in a sentence?
Invoke is used as a verb. For example: “The envoy invoked the King of Kings's magnanimity to reduce his province's tribute after another drought.”
What is a short sentence with invoke?
“This satanist ritual invokes Beelzebub.”
What does invoke mean?
Invoke means to call upon (a person, a god) for help, assistance or guidance.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: invoke (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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