ENCROACH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does encroach mean? 

• ENCROACH (verb)
  The verb ENCROACH has 2 senses:

1. advance beyond the usual limit

2. impinge or infringe upon

  Familiarity information: ENCROACH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENCROACH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they encroach    ... he / she / it encroaches   
Past simple: encroached   
Past participle: encroached   
-ing form: encroaching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Advance beyond the usual limit

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

encroach; impinge; infringe

Hypernyms (to "encroach" is one way to...):

advance; go on; march on; move on; pass on; progress (move forward, also in the metaphorical sense)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

encroacher (someone who enters by force in order to conquer)

encroachment (entry to another's property without right or permission)

encroachment (any entry into an area not previously occupied)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Impinge or infringe upon

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

encroach; entrench; impinge; trench

Context example:

This matter entrenches on other domains

Hypernyms (to "encroach" is one way to...):

take advantage; trespass (make excessive use of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

encroachment (influencing strongly)

 Context examples 

Tunicamycin works by forming holes in the cell walls of encroaching bacteria, causing them to burst open and die.

(Soil Bacterium Tapped for Penicillin Guard Duty, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Encroach, presume, and the game is up.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

My uncle has been too good for me to encroach.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Do not be afraid of my running into any excess, of my encroaching on your privilege of universal good-will.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Glaucoma in which the angle of the anterior chamber is open and the trabecular meshwork does not encroach on the base of the iris.

(Open Angle Glaucoma, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

I knew what all this meant, for the servants' dinner-bell was ringing at the very moment over our heads; and as I hate such encroaching people (the Jacksons are very encroaching, I have always said so: just the sort of people to get all they can), I said to the boy directly (a great lubberly fellow of ten years old, you know, who ought to be ashamed of himself), 'I'll take the boards to your father, Dick, so get you home again as fast as you can.' The boy looked very silly, and turned away without offering a word, for I believe I might speak pretty sharp; and I dare say it will cure him of coming marauding about the house for one while. I hate such greediness—so good as your father is to the family, employing the man all the year round!

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The study shows that 70 percent of existing forest lands are within a half-mile of forest edges, where encroaching urban, suburban and agricultural influences can cause harmful effects such as losses of plant and animal species.

(Shrinking habitats have adverse effects on world ecosystems, NSF)

Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) and University of South Carolina Beaufort, both in the United States, reported warming seas appear to decrease the efficacy of the chemical compounds that corals release into the water to defend themselves from bacteria and encroaching seaweed, but these losses may be mitigated if there are large numbers of hungry fish around.

(Voracious fish defend coral reefs against warming, Wikinews)

"You see now, my queenly Blanche," began Lady Ingram, "she encroaches. Be advised, my angel girl—and—"

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Miss Crawford had a claim; and when it was no longer to encroach on, to interfere with the stronger claims, the truer kindness of another, she could do her justice even with pleasure to herself.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)