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The history behind encroach is likely to hook you in. The word comes from the Middle English verb encrochen, which means "to get or seize." The Anglo-French predecessor of encrochen is encrocher, which was formed by combining the prefix en- ("in") with the noun croche ("hook"). Croche is also an ancestor of our word crochet; that word first referred to a crochet hook or to the needlework done with it. Encroach carries the meaning of "intrude," both in terms of privilege and property. The word can also hop over legal barriers to describe a general advancement beyond desirable or normal limits (such as a hurricane that encroaches on the mainland).
Examples of encroach in a Sentence
Kathleen Magramo, CNN Money, 17 Apr. 2025
Democrats have repeatedly warned against Republican budget proposals encroaching on Medicaid.
—Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025
Dire wolves did overlap with early humans at the end of the Ice Age, around 11,500 years ago, but humans had barely invented agriculture at that point, let alone begun building the cities and interstate highways that would encroach upon the natural world.
—Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2025
The citrus-industry proposal includes $125 million for new tree plantings, an amount that Albritton isn’t sure is enough for an industry facing its lowest seasonal production in a century because of deadly citrus greening disease, damaging hurricanes and encroaching development.
—Jim Turner, Sun Sentinel, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for encroach
Cite this Entry
“Encroach.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encroach. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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Legal Definition
encroach
intransitive verb
Anglo-French encrocher, probably alteration of acrocher to catch hold of, seize, usurp, from Old French, from a-, prefix stressing goal + croc hook
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