Definition of "encroach" [en•croach]

• To take another's possessions or rights gradually or stealthily: encroach on a neighbor's land. (verb-intransitive)
• To advance beyond proper or former limits: desert encroaching upon grassland. (verb-intransitive)
• Football To commit encroachment. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Q: Local authorities issue bonds, partake in joint ventures, lend to SME's - in short, encroach on turf previously exclusively occupied by banks, the capital markets, and business."
• "If you stand in that area, you can now look out across the subdivisions, which are beginning to encroach, which is the explanation for my recommendation to the President that we create a larger protected area."
• "Everything you said sounds wonderful and golden -- except that neocons are perpetually revising the definition of "encroach" and what it means to "speak out against Government.""
• "Everything you said sounds wonderful and golden -- except that neocons are perpetually revising the definition of "encroach" and what it means to "speak out against Government.""
• "Within hours of reports that Mukherjee himself was at the receiving end of such calls, Raja activated his ministry to take steps against such calls that "encroach" into the privacy of telecom consumers, an issue that has been haunting every single consumer despite the regulator"