Encroach
[ɪn'krəʊtʃ;en-] or [ɪn'krotʃ]
Definition
(v. i.) To enter by gradual steps or by stealth into the possessions or rights of another; to trespass; to intrude; to trench; -- commonly with on or upon; as, to encroach on a neighbor; to encroach on the highway.
(n.) Encroachment.
Checker: Velma
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. Trespass, intrude, infringe, trench, make inroad, make invasion, advance stealthily.
Edited by Francine
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Invade, trespass, intrude, transgress, infringe
ANT:Respect, recognize, observe
Typed by Brian
Definition
v.i. to seize on the rights of others: to intrude: to trespass.—n. Encroach′er.—adv. Encroach′ingly.—n. Encroach′ment act of encroaching: that which is taken by encroaching.
Typed by Duane
Examples
- Left to themselves, they tend to encroach on one another. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Check me if I encroach. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- My uncle has been too good for me to encroach. Jane Austen. Emma.
- How you encroach! Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Rome provoked the war by encouraging the Numidians to encroach upon Carthage until the Carthaginians were goaded to fight in despair. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Encroach, presume, and the game is up. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Their former attitudes and their former silence were once more first encroached upon by Pancks. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Without encroaching on forbidden ground, we may venture to say that there can be no doubt between ourselves of that fact. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- He can, in this case, both restore the capital, and pay the interest, without alienating or encroaching upon any other source of revenue. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- It is a tax which very few people could pay, without encroaching more or less upon their capitals. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- I am, perhaps, encroaching upon the next dues, but the winter is likely to be severe, and our poor old people must be helped. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Do not be afraid of my running into any excess, of my encroaching on your privilege of universal good-will. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- The stairs were still carpetless, and on the way up to her room she was arrested on the landing by an encroaching tide of soapsuds. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- You see now, my queenly Blanche, began Lady Ingram, she encroaches. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- The prodigal perverts it in this manner: By not confining his expense within his income, he encroaches upon his capital. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The expense of the society, in this case, exceeds its revenue, and necessarily encroaches upon its capital. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Edited by Griffith