invoke Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
    arouse; raise; conjure up; bring up; call down; call forth; evoke; put forward; stir; conjure.
    • raise the specter of unemployment
    • he conjured wild birds in the air
    • call down the spirits from the mountain
  2. verb cite as an authority; resort to
    appeal.
    • He invoked the law that would save him
    • I appealed to the law of 1900
    • She invoked an ancient law
  3. verb request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection
    appeal.
    • appeal to somebody for help
    • Invoke God in times of trouble

WordNet

In*voke" transitive verb
Etymology
F. invoquer, L. invocare; pref. in- in, on + vocare to call, fr. vox voice. See Voice, and cf. Invocate.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Invoked ; present participle & verbal noun Invoking
Definitions
  1. To call on for aid or protection; to invite earnestly or solemnly; to summon; to address in prayer; to solicit or demand by invocation; to implore; as, to invoke the Supreme Being, or to invoke His and blessing.
    Go, my dread lord, to your great grandsire's tomb, . . . Invoke his warlike spirit. Shak.

Webster 1913