All 6 Uses

preoccupied
in
Never Let Me Go
(Auto-generated)

We'd become preoccupied with T-shirts, with decorating around our beds, with personalising our desks.†
p. 38.7 *

preoccupied = took up the attention of
The others were nodding to back me up, though Ruth herself had on a vague expression, like she'd suddenly become preoccupied with something else entirely.†
p. 63.7
I suppose I must have assumed those old problems had been left behind with our early teen years, and that only the big issues that now loomed so large could possibly preoccupy any of us.†
p. 94.9

preoccupy = keep busy thinking about or doing something
That class had finished several minutes early—Miss Emily had rushed off with a preoccupied frown—and the word had started to go round as soon as the students had come out.†
p. 111.6

preoccupied = took up the attention of
Actually, preoccupied though I was with Ruth's possible, I did begin to enjoy the paintings and the sheer peacefulness of the place.†
p. 162.6
But she was now preoccupied with her cabinet.†
p. 269.7

Definitions:

(1) (preoccupied)
busy thinking about or doing something so that other things are not noticed or done
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Much more rarely, preoccupied can mean that someone has already inhabited or taken something.