invest with
invest (someone) with (something)
1. To give someone or something authority. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "invest" and "with." Don't invest that madman with power! Ugh, now that the manager has invested Tom with some modicum of authority, all he does is boss us around. Hey, who is the CEO going to invest with power while she's on maternity leave?
2. To believe that someone possesses a particular trait or quality. Any time you have a crush on someone, you end up investing them with all kinds of great qualities that they don't actually have. He's an actor, though. You really can't invest someone from Hollywood with humility without knowing them. Hey, this isn't me investing Colleen with kindness and compassion. Once you spend more time with her, you'll find that she genuinely does possess those qualities.
See also: invest
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
invest someone with something
to endow someone with something, such as power or privilege. The constitution invests the vice president with the authority to act on the president's behalf in certain conditions. The state has invested me with the authority to unite this couple in marriage.
See also: invest
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
invest with
v.
1. To grant someone some power or authority: The state invests a justice of the peace with the authority to perform marriages. I am invested with the task of fixing the computers.
2. To attribute to someone or something some enveloping or pervasive quality: I invested my friend with virtues that turned out to be products of my own imagination.
See also: invest
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.