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Definition of "trespass" []

  • To commit an offense or a sin; transgress or err. (verb-intransitive)
  • Law To commit an unlawful injury to the person, property, or rights of another, with actual or implied force or violence, especially to enter onto another's land wrongfully. (verb-intransitive)
  • To infringe on the privacy, time, or attention of another: "I must . . . not trespass too far on the patience of a good-natured critic” ( Henry Fielding). (verb-intransitive)
  • Transgression of a moral or social law, code, or duty. (noun)
  • Law The act of trespassing. (noun)

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.

Use "trespass" in a sentence
  • "The catch & release might lessen the actual harm but a trespass is still a trespass."
  • "Of course, an important difference is that to my knowledge the candlelight vigils did not engage in trespass, which the SEIU apparently did."
  • "Overall, women claimants experienced mixed results in trespass matters: four won their suits; one (who took on the powerful Carter family) did not; and the results of the remaining two cases are unknown."