Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - invite

~1 v 1 to ask someone to come to a party, wedding, meal etc  (invite sb to sth)  (Who should we invite to the party? | invite sb to do sth)  (I'm thinking of inviting them to spend the summer with me in Italy. | invite sb for a drink/meal etc)  (Why don't you invite her for a drink at the club one evening? | be invited)  (I'm afraid I wasn't invited.) 2 formal to politely ask someone to do something  (invite sb to do sth)  (The interviewer invited Senator Axelmann to comment on recent events.) 3 to encourage something bad such as trouble or criticism to happen to you, especially without intending to  (Any government that sells arms to these dictators is inviting trouble.) invite sb along phr v to ask someone if they would like to come with you when you are going somewhere  (We were going to the beach and I decided to invite her along.) invite sb back phr v to ask someone to come to your home, hotel etc after you have been out somewhere together  (Richard often used to invite me back for coffee after the show.) invite sb in phr v to ask someone to come into your home  (Mr Vosset came to the door but didn't invite me in.) invite sb over phr v to ask someone to come to your home, usually for a drink or a meal  (Max has invited me over for dinner.) ~2 n informal an invitation to a party, meal etc