From Longman Business Dictionaryencroach on/upon something phrasal verb [transitive] to gradually take more control of someone’s rights, property, responsibility etc than you shouldBureaucratic power has encroached upon the freedom of companies to do business. —encroachment noun [countable, uncountable]The Government should legislate to prevent encroachment by developers on the green belt (=an area of countryside around a city where building is not allowed). → encroach→ See Verb table
