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trespass

nounverbattested in dialogue

  • United Kingdom//ˈtɹɛspəs//
  • United Kingdom//ˈtɹɛspɪs//
  • United States//ˈtɹɛspæs//
  • United States//ˈtɹæspæs//

An intentional interference with another's property or person.

noun

  1. 1

    An intentional interference with another's property or person.

    External infrastructure issues such as severe weather and trespass caused 17.1% of [train] cancellations, [...].

    Network Rail has produced a free downloadable comic highlighting the consequences of railway trespass. Between March 23 and April 26, there were 1,024 trespass incidents on the railway. [...] it is based on the company's award-winning safety film 18, which shows the dangers of trespass, especially around electrified lines.

    Newark Mayor Ras Baraka "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings" to leave Delaney Hall, a facility being run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to acting US attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba.

  2. 2

    archaicsin

    Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us

Etymology

Borrowed into Middle English trespas, from Old French trespas (“passage; offense against the law”), from trespasser.

verb

  1. 1

    archaicTo commit an offence; to sin.

    In the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo offend against, to wrong (someone).

    And forgeve us oure trespases, even as we forgeve them which trespas us.

  3. 3

    To go too far; to put someone to inconvenience by demand or importunity; to intrude.

    to trespass upon the time or patience of another

    "Indeed I have, sir," was her answer. "She is a great deal too ill to be moved. Mr. Jones says we must not think of moving her. We must trespass a little longer on your kindness."

  4. 4

    To enter someone else's property illegally.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo pass beyond a limit or boundary; hence, to depart; to go.

    1523–1525, Jean Froissart, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners (translator), Froissart's Chronicles Soon after this, noble Robert de Bruce […] trespassed out of this uncertain world.

  6. 6

    To subject [someone] to a trespass notice, formally notifying them that they are prohibited from entry to a property, such that any current or future presence there will constitute trespass, (especially) criminal trespass

    The dean trespassed the streaker from his university.

    A year ago a sheep-man was allowing his flocks to trespass on another public-domain licensee. At his third offense, after warnings, he was "trespassed" and given a fairly stiff fine and a warning that a fourth offense would cost him his grazing rights.

    The entire police force has in effect been trespassed from a Wellington property to stop officers checking whether a heavy-sleeping offender is complying with an overnight bail curfew.

Etymology

From Middle English trespassen, borrowed from Old French trespasser (“to go across or over, transgress”), from tres- (“across, over”) + passer (“to pass”).

Forms

plural
trespasses
past tense
trespassed
past participle
trespassed
present participle
trespassing
third person singular
trespasses
The neighbouring pagesAlphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.

Lexical content from Wiktionary, under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source entry · Data version 2026-08-23

Rank among the words of the OpenSubtitles 2018 corpus — film and television subtitles, so spoken rather than written usage (CC BY-SA 3.0).