From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishencroachen‧croach /ɪnˈkrəʊtʃ $ -ˈkroʊtʃ/ verb [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] 1 TAKE something FROM somebodyto gradually take more of someone’s time, possessions, rights etc than you shouldencroach on/upon Bureaucratic power has encroached upon the freedom of the individual.2 COVERto gradually cover more and more landencroach into The fighting encroached further east. —encroachment noun [countable, uncountable] foreign encroachment→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
encroach• But even there, modernity has encroached.• Poachers, illegal loggers and encroaching farmers are active everywhere across the sprawling archipelago.• Fourthly, a successful terminal at Stratford would inevitably and inexorably encroach on the Lea Valley regional park and reduce leisure facilities.• One was the simple protection of individual rights against an encroaching state, the basic defence of rights in the liberal tradition.• His knapsack was so big that it proved a useful weapon in knocking encroaching sunbathers off his collection of sun loungers.• The law stipulates that a monument can not interfere or encroach upon an existing memorial.• It is possible that the deletion is encroaching upon an important part of the protein and altering the conformation of the complex.• This is the chalk of the plains, although it encroaches upon the slopes, most notably in the northern Montagne.encroach on/upon• It fell into the business category and was therefore Bernard's province, not to be encroached upon.• This too has partly been encroached upon.• Still, development had sprung up around the edges, like weeds encroaching on a garden.• The law stipulates that a monument can not interfere or encroach upon an existing memorial.• Gordimer doesn't allow her political activities to encroach on her writing.• It always seems presumptuous to encroach on that self-sufficiency.• He had, until then, been very unwilling to encroach on the authority of his formidable Secretary of State.• The growth of bureaucratic power since 1900, Handlin wrote, had begun ominously to encroach upon the freedom of the individual.• It was staffed by women and men who didn't like outsiders encroaching on their space.From Longman Business Dictionaryencroachen‧croach /ɪnˈkrəʊtʃ-ˈkroʊtʃ/ verb → encroach on/upon something→ See Verb tableOrigin encroach (1300-1400) Old French encrochier “to seize”, from croche “hook” 