trespass

trespass n transgression, violation, infraction, *breach, infringement, contravention

Analogous words: invading or invasion, entrenchment, encroachment (see corresponding verbs at TRESPASS): intrusion, obtrusion (see corresponding verbs at INTRUDE): *offense, sin, vice, crime

trespass vb Trespass, encroach, entrench, infringe, invade all mean to make inroads upon the property, territory, or rights of another.

Trespass implies an intrusion, often one that is either an unwarranted and unpardonable or an unlawful and offensive intrusion

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warn hunters against trespassing on his land

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shall probably trespass on your hospitality till the Saturday se'nnight following— Austen

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it is essential that ... an artist should consciously or unconsciously draw a circle beyond which he does not trespass— T. S. Eliot

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Encroach usually implies gradual or stealthy entrance upon another's territory or assumption of another's rights or possessions; the term may imply either the act of a person or the agency of a thing impertinence . . . ever encroaches when it is tolerated— Burney

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houses encroaching . . . upon the desolation of the marshland— Styron

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the motive of simplicity is to prevent frivolities of fashion from encroaching upon our time— Inge

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today ... the expert encroaches on the artist— Mailer

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Entrench may throw less emphasis than do the preceding words upon unlawful intrusion and more upon cutting or digging into what belongs to another, what should be used in another way, or what is outside one's sphere

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demands that entrenched too much upon his time

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it does not appear that he entrenched upon his own or his mother's private fortune— Buchan

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Infringe implies an encroachment that is a clear breach of the law or violation of the rights of another

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infringe a patent

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he was infringing upon the liberties of a man who had never done him any injury— Edgeworth

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the statute proposed would infringe fundamental principles as they have been understood by the traditions of our people and our law— Justice Holmes

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Invade implies a definite entrance into the territory or rights of another usually with hostile intent or injurious effect

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the gangrene has invaded healthy tissues

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where there is a legal right, there is also a legal remedy by suit, or action at law, whenever that right is invaded—Blackstone

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a crowd of tourists invades the town each weekend

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she'll probably insult you for invading what she calls their privacy— Basso

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Analogous words: *intrude, obtrude, interlope, butt in: interfere, intervene, *interpose