trespass
Americannoun
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Law.
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an unlawful act causing injury to the person, property, or rights of another, committed with force or violence, actual or implied.
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a wrongful entry upon the lands of another.
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the action to recover damages for such an injury.
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an encroachment or intrusion.
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an offense, sin, or wrong.
verb (used without object)
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Law. to commit a trespass.
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to encroach on a person's privacy, time, etc.; infringe (usually followed by on orupon ).
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to commit a transgression or offense; transgress; offend; sin.
verb
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to go or intrude (on the property, privacy, or preserves of another) with no right or permission
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law to commit trespass, esp to enter wrongfully upon land belonging to another
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archaic (often foll by against) to sin or transgress
noun
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law
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any unlawful act committed with force or violence, actual or implied, which causes injury to another person, his property, or his rights
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a wrongful entry upon another's land
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an action to recover damages for such injury or wrongful entry
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an intrusion on another's privacy or preserves
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a sin or offence
Related Words
Trespass , encroach , infringe , intrude imply overstepping boundaries and assuming possession of others' property or crowding onto the right of others. To trespass is to pass unlawfully within the boundaries of another's property: Hunters trespass on a farmer's fields. To encroach is to creep, gradually and often stealthily, upon territory, rights, or privileges, so that a footing is imperceptibly established: The sea slowly encroached upon the land. To infringe is to break in upon or invade rights, customs, or the like, by violating or disregarding them: to infringe upon a patent. To intrude is to thrust oneself into the presence of a person or into places or circumstances where one is not welcome: to intrude into a private conversation.
Other Word Forms
- nontrespass noun
- trespasser noun
- untrespassed adjective
- untrespassing adjective
Etymology
Origin of trespass
First recorded in 1250–1300; (noun) Middle English trespas “transgression, offense,” from Old French, derivative of trespasser, equivalent to tres- (from Latin trāns- trans- ) + passer “to pass” ( pass ); (verb) Middle English trespassen, derivative of the noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When people first started trespassing into history, they weren’t careful about that kind of thing.
From Literature
A jury last year took their side, awarding more than $660 million in damages across three Greenpeace entities, citing charges including trespass, nuisance, conspiracy and deprivation of property access.
From Barron's
He wasn’t compelled to offer stuttering apologies for trespassing or to make a hasty, panicked retreat in the heroic fashion of his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
From Literature
The attempt was stopped by the restaurant's manager, who said they were trespassing on private property.
From BBC
It was a rainy day in May, and upon returning to the site with plastic sheets to protect freshly poured concrete, ICE had trespassed onto the development.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
