Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: French
Origin: inviter, from Latin invitare

invite

1 verb
     
in‧vite1 S2 W2 [transitive]
1 to ask someone to come to a party, wedding, meal etc
invite somebody to something
Who should we invite to the party?
invite somebody to do something
Gail invited me to stay with her while her husband was out of town.
invite somebody for something
Why don't you invite her for a drink at the club one evening?
I'm afraid I wasn't invited.
2 to politely ask someone to do something
invite somebody to do something
Anyone interested in contributing articles is invited to contact the editor.
3 to encourage something bad to happen, especially without intending to:
Any government that sells arms to dictators is inviting trouble.

invite somebody along

phrasal verb
to ask someone if they would like to come with you when you are going somewhere:
Why don't you invite Barbara along?

invite somebody back

phrasal verb
1 to ask someone to come to your home, hotel etc after you have been out somewhere together
invite somebody back for
Richard often used to invite me back for coffee after the show.
2 to ask someone to come to your home, your office etc again:
If you keep arguing with Gerry, they won't invite us back.

invite somebody in

phrasal verb
to ask someone to come into your home:
After a few seconds, the door opened and Mrs Barnes invited me in.

invite somebody out

phrasal verb
to ask someone to go somewhere with you, especially to a restaurant or film
invite somebody out for
We invited Clarissa out for ice cream.

invite somebody over

phrasal verb
to ask someone to come to your home, usually for a drink or a meal
invite somebody over for
Max has invited me over for dinner.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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