Fill vs. Occupy — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 18, 2024
"Fill" means to make something full or to put something into a space, while "occupy" refers to residing in or taking control of a space or position.
Difference Between Fill and Occupy
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
"Fill" typically refers to putting a substance into a space until it is full. For example, you can fill a glass with water. "Occupy," on the other hand, means to take up space or reside in a place. For example, you can occupy a room.
"Fill" is often used in contexts involving liquids or materials being placed into a container or area. For instance, you can fill a bottle with milk. Whereas "occupy" is more commonly used in contexts where someone or something is taking up space or holding a position, such as occupying a chair.
When you "fill" something, the emphasis is on the process of making it full. This is common in phrases like "fill the tank" or "fill the gap." In contrast, when you "occupy" something, the emphasis is on the state of being present or in possession, as seen in phrases like "occupy the house" or "occupy the post."
"Fill" can be temporary, as it often refers to completing a space or volume that might later be emptied. For example, you can fill a bag with groceries and then empty it. "Occupy" suggests a more stable or continuous state of presence, such as occupying a territory or office.
In a job context, "fill" can mean to complete a vacancy, such as filling a position. "Occupy" in a similar context would mean holding a position, such as occupying a role within an organization.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
To make something full
To reside in or take control of
Context
Often used with liquids/materials
Often used with spaces/positions
Emphasis
Process of making full
State of presence/control
Duration
Often temporary
More stable or continuous
Job Context
Completing a vacancy
Holding a position
Compare with Definitions
Fill
To occupy a space completely.
The room filled with laughter.
Occupy
To reside in a place.
They occupy an apartment downtown.
Fill
To perform a role.
They hired him to fill the vacant position.
Occupy
To hold a position.
She occupies a senior role in the company.
Fill
To meet a requirement.
She filled all the prerequisites for the course.
Occupy
To engage attention or time.
He occupies himself with various hobbies.
Fill
To put something into (a container, for example) to capacity or to a desired level
Fill a glass with milk.
Filled the tub with water.
Occupy
To fill up (time or space)
A lecture that occupied three hours.
Fill
To supply or provide to the fullest extent
Filled the mall with new stores.
Occupy
To dwell or reside in (an apartment, for example).
Fill
To build up the level of (low-lying land) with material such as earth or gravel.
Occupy
To hold or fill (an office or position).
Fill
To stop or plug up (an opening, for example).
Occupy
To seize possession of and maintain control over forcibly or by conquest
The troops occupied the city.
Fill
To repair a cavity of (a tooth).
Occupy
To engage or employ the attention or concentration of
Occupied the children with coloring books.
Fill
To add a foreign substance to (cloth or wood, for example).
Occupy
To take or use.
Fill
To flow or move into (a container or area), often to capacity
Water is filling the basement. Fans are filling the stadium.
Occupy
To fill.
The film occupied three hours of my time.
Fill
To pervade
Music filled the room.
Occupy
To possess or use the time or capacity of; to engage the service of.
The film occupied me for three hours.
I occupy myself with gardening for a few hours every day.
Fill
To satiate, as with food and drink
The guests filled themselves with pie.
Occupy
To fill or hold (an official position or role).
I occupy the post of deputy cat catcher.
Fill
To engage or occupy completely
A song that filled me with nostalgia.
Occupy
To hold the attention of.
I occupied her friend while he made his proposal.
Fill
To satisfy or meet; fulfill
Fill the requirements.
Occupy
(transitive) To take or use space.
Fill
To supply what is specified by or required for
Fill a prescription.
Fill an order.
Occupy
To fill space.
The historic mansion occupied two city blocks.
Fill
To put a person into (a job or position)
We filled the job with a new hire.
Occupy
To live or reside in.
Fill
To discharge the duties of; occupy
How long has she filled that post?.
Occupy
(military) To have, or to have taken, possession or control of (a territory).
Fill
To cover the surface of (an inexpensive metal) with a layer of precious metal, such as gold.
Occupy
(surveying) To place the theodolite or total station at (a point).
Fill
To cause (a sail) to swell.
Occupy
To have sexual intercourse with.
Fill
To adjust (a yard) so that wind will cause a sail to swell.
Occupy
(obsolete) To do business in; to busy oneself with.
Fill
To become full
The basement is filling with water.
Occupy
(obsolete) To use; to expend; to make use of.
Fill
An amount needed to make full, complete, or satisfied
Eat one's fill.
Occupy
To take or hold possession of; to hold or keep for use; to possess.
Woe occupieth the fine [end] of our gladness.
The better apartments were already occupied.
Fill
Material for filling a container, cavity, or passage.
Occupy
To hold, or fill, the dimensions of; to take up the room or space of; to cover or fill; as, the camp occupies five acres of ground.
Fill
A built-up piece of land; an embankment.
Occupy
To possess or use the time or capacity of; to engage the service of; to employ; to busy.
An archbishop may have cause to occupy more chaplains than six.
They occupied themselves about the Sabbath.
Fill
The material, such as earth or gravel, used for this.
Occupy
To do business in; to busy one's self with.
All the ships of the sea, with their mariners, were in thee to occupy the merchandise.
Not able to occupy their old crafts.
Fill
(transitive) To occupy fully, to take up all of.
Occupy
To use; to expend; to make use of.
All the gold that was occupied for the work.
They occupy not money themselves.
Fill
(transitive) To add contents to (a container, cavity, or the like) so that it is full.
Occupy
To have sexual intercourse with.
Fill
To enter (something), making it full.
Occupy
To hold possession; to be an occupant.
Fill
(intransitive) To become full.
The bucket filled with rain;
The sails fill with wind
Occupy
To follow business; to traffic.
Fill
(intransitive) To become pervaded with something.
My heart filled with joy.
Occupy
Be present in; be inside of
Fill
(transitive) To satisfy or obey (an order, request, or requirement).
The pharmacist filled my prescription for penicillin.
We can't let the library close! It fills a great need in the community.
Occupy
Keep busy with;
She busies herself with her butterfly collection
Fill
(transitive) To install someone, or be installed, in (a position or office), eliminating a vacancy.
Sorry, no more applicants. The position has been filled.
Occupy
Live (in a certain place)
Fill
(transitive) To treat (a tooth) by adding a dental filling to it.
Dr. Smith filled Jim's cavity with silver amalgam.
Occupy
Occupy the whole of;
The liquid fills the container
Fill
(transitive) To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
Occupy
Be on the mind of;
I worry about the second Germanic consonant
Fill
To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails.
Occupy
As of time or space;
It took three hours to get to work this morning
This event occupied a very short time
Fill
To have sexual intercourse with (a female).
Did you fill that girl last night?
Occupy
March aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation;
Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939
Fill
(after a possessive) A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.
Don't feed him any more: he's had his fill.
Occupy
Engage or engross wholly;
Her interest in butterflies absorbs her completely
Fill
An amount that fills a container.
The mixer returned to the plant for another fill.
Occupy
To take up space.
The boxes occupy the entire storage room.
Fill
The filling of a container or area.
That machine can do 20 fills a minute.
This paint program supports lines, circles, and textured fills.
Occupy
To take control of.
The army occupied the territory.
Fill
Inexpensive material used to occupy empty spaces, especially in construction.
The ruins of earlier buildings were used as fill for more recent construction.
Fill
(archaeology) Soil and/or human-created debris discovered within a cavity or cut in the layers and exposed by excavation; fill soil.
Fill
An embankment, as in railroad construction, to fill a hollow or ravine; also, the place which is to be filled.
Fill
(music) A short passage, riff, or rhythmic sound that helps to keep the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody.
Bass fill
Fill
One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.
Fill
One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.
Fill
A full supply, as much as supplies want; as much as gives complete satisfaction.
I'll bear thee hence, where I may weep my fill.
Fill
That which fills; filling; filler; specif., an embankment, as in railroad construction, to fill a hollow or ravine; also, the place which is to be filled.
Fill
To make full; to supply with as much as can be held or contained; to put or pour into, till no more can be received; to occupy the whole capacity of.
The rain also filleth the pools.
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. Anf they filled them up to the brim.
Fill
To furnish an abudant supply to; to furnish with as mush as is desired or desirable; to occupy the whole of; to swarm in or overrun.
And God blessed them, saying. Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas.
The Syrians filled the country.
Fill
To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fillso great a multitude?
Things that are sweet and fat are more filling.
Fill
To possess and perform the duties of; to officiate in, as an incumbent; to occupy; to hold; as, a king fills a throne; the president fills the office of chief magistrate; the speaker of the House fills the chair.
Fill
To supply with an incumbent; as, to fill an office or a vacancy.
Fill
To press and dilate, as a sail; as, the wind filled the sails.
Fill
To make an embankment in, or raise the level of (a low place), with earth or gravel.
Fill
To become full; to have the whole capacity occupied; to have an abundant supply; to be satiated; as, corn fills well in a warm season; the sail fills with the wind.
Fill
To fill a cup or glass for drinking.
Give me some wine; fill full.
Fill
A quantity sufficient to satisfy;
He ate his fill of potatoes
She had heard her fill of gossip
Fill
Any material that fills a space or container;
There was not enough fill for the trench
Fill
Make full, also in a metaphorical sense;
Fill a container
Fill the child with pride
Fill
Become full;
The pool slowly filled with water
The theater filled up slowly
Fill
Occupy the whole of;
The liquid fills the container
Fill
Assume, as of positions or roles;
She took the job as director of development
Fill
Fill or meet a want or need
Fill
Appoint someone to (a position or a job)
Fill
Eat until one is sated;
He filled up on turkey
Fill
Fill to satisfaction;
I am sated
Fill
Plug with a substance;
Fill a cavity
Fill
To make something full.
She filled the vase with water.
Fill
To supply a need.
He filled the order promptly.
Common Curiosities
Is "fill" used in job contexts?
Yes, "fill" can refer to completing a vacancy or job position.
Can you fill a position?
Yes, you can fill a job position by hiring someone.
Can "fill" be used to refer to taking up space?
Yes, "fill" can refer to occupying a space completely, such as filling a room with furniture.
Can "occupy" refer to a temporary state?
"Occupy" usually implies a more stable or continuous state, rather than temporary.
Does "occupy" suggest control?
Yes, "occupy" often implies control or presence in a space.
Can liquids "occupy" a container?
It's more common to say liquids "fill" a container.
What does "occupy" mean?
"Occupy" means to reside in or take control of a space or position.
What does "fill" mean?
"Fill" means to make something full by adding a substance to it.
Can you occupy a position?
Yes, you can occupy a job position by holding that role.
Is "fill" used in cooking?
Yes, you can fill a pie with filling.
Is "occupy" used in military contexts?
Yes, "occupy" can mean taking control of a territory or area.
Is "occupy" used in legal terms?
Yes, "occupy" can be used in legal contexts to describe residing in a property.
Does "fill" imply permanence?
No, "fill" often suggests a temporary state until the space is emptied again.
Can people "fill" a space?
Yes, people can fill a space, like filling a room with guests.
Can people "occupy" a space?
Yes, people can occupy a space, such as occupying a house.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat
