infringement
Americannoun
-
a breach or infraction, as of a law, right, or obligation; violation; transgression.
-
an act of infringing.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of infringement
Explanation
An infringement is a minor offense that involves breaking a rule or a law. If your sister takes a chapter from your book and publishes it as her own, you could sue her for copyright infringement. An infringement can result in legal penalties if you’re breaking a law, as in the case of a copyright infringement or a patent infringement. An infringement can also be a violation of a rule or an agreement that applies in a specific situation. In that case there are no legal consequences, but there are still penalties. If the referee sees an infringement of the rules during your soccer game, he’ll penalize your team by awarding your opponents a free kick.
Vocabulary lists containing infringement
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
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“Vaccine Controversy Shows Why We Need Markets, Not Mandates” by Ron Paul
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 27–April 2, 2021
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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.
See Examples For:
“We take copyright infringement seriously and will pursue all appropriate remedies to protect our content and intellectual property rights.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
The company had earlier sued Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for trademark infringement.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
In the last three weeks of May authorities reportedly handled more than 1,400 IP infringement cases.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Scherp said he thought it should be "highlighted that the court found that Google never ceased its infringement" following the EU commission's decision.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
“Our next meeting shall commence tomorrow, lunchtime. The topic: Mr. Owens giving detention out just for talking in math class. It’s a total infringement on our First Amendment rights!”
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
The EU said the fine's amount took into consideration the nature of the violations, the impact on Europeans and the duration of the infringements.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
This defense has borne fruit in other Strike 3 cases, in which defendants successfully argued simply having an IP address that was used to infringe wasn’t enough to prove they committed the infringements.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
The Owls have already been docked 18 points this season for financial infringements under Chansiri.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
It asserts that because all of X’s “alleged infringements were self-explanatory,” the commission “primarily relied on gathering its own evidence.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
He was continually marching Antonapoulos down to the courthouse during lunch hour to settle these infringements of the law.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
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.
