Noun

• S: (n) interest, involvement (a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something) "an interest in music"
• S: (n) sake, interest (a reason for wanting something done) "for your sake"; "died for the sake of his country"; "in the interest of safety"; "in the common interest"
• S: (n) interest, interestingness (the power of attracting or holding one's attention (because it is unusual or exciting etc.)) "they said nothing of great interest"; "primary colors can add interest to a room"
• S: (n) interest (a fixed charge for borrowing money; usually a percentage of the amount borrowed) "how much interest do you pay on your mortgage?"
• S: (n) interest, stake ((law) a right or legal share of something; a financial involvement with something) "they have interests all over the world"; "a stake in the company's future"
• S: (n) interest, interest group ((usually plural) a social group whose members control some field of activity and who have common aims) "the iron interests stepped up production"
• direct hyponym / full hyponym
• S: (n) special interest, special-interest group, special interest group, advocacy group, lobby group, lobby, pressure group, third house (an interest group that tries to influence legislators or bureaucrats to act in their favor, typically through lobbying)
• S: (n) National Rifle Association, NRA (a powerful lobby that advocates the right to own and bear arms and rejects any gun regulation by the government)
• S: (n) vested interest (groups that seek to control a social system or activity from which they derive private benefit)
• S: (n) military-industrial complex (a country's military establishment and the industries that produce arms and other military equipment) "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex"--Dwight David Eisenhower
• domain usage
• direct hypernym / inherited hypernym / sister term
• S: (n) pastime, interest, pursuit (a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly)) "sailing is her favorite pastime"; "his main pastime is gambling"; "he counts reading among his interests"; "they criticized the boy for his limited pursuits"

Verb

• S: (v) interest (excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of)
• S: (v) concern, interest, occupy, worry (be on the mind of) "I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift"
• derivationally related form
• sentence frame
• S: (v) matter to, interest (be of importance or consequence) "This matters to me!"