incursion
Americannoun
-
a sudden invasion, attack, or raid
-
the act of running or leaking into; penetration
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of incursion
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin incursiōn- (stem of incursiō ) raid, equivalent to incurs ( us ) (past participle of incurrere to incur ) + -iōn- -ion; see excursion
Explanation
When an army crosses a border into another country for battle, they are making an incursion into enemy territory. An incursion is an invasion as well as an attack. Incursion can also be used to describe other things that rush in like an army such as an invasive species into a new region or floodwaters entering your home. When an airplane heads onto a runway it is not supposed to land on, risking airport safety, it is known as a runway incursion. And an incursion of cold air could make September feel like December.
Vocabulary lists containing incursion
Lord of the Flies
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The Son of Neptune
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Texas v. Johnson (1989)
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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:
He told me their expectation was, at worst, a small, limited incursion by Hamas fighters.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
That incursion of private-label brands can be felt across the consumer-goods landscape.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
"We've been campaigning on planning issues and... the incursion of the city on the East End for quite a number of years," said Jonathan Moberly, who is leading local opposition.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Their size corresponds to small arrowheads, which are directly comparable to those produced by Homo sapiens during an incursion into Neanderthal territory in the Rhône Valley, 25,000 years later.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026
This was his first incursion into management circles.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
A brief shelter in place order was given because of the mysterious incursions, but no attacks were carried out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
In recent months, states across NATO's eastern flank have faced a raft of hostile actions from Moscow and Minsk ranging from drone incursions to cyberattacks.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Almost every week this summer brought new reports of drone incursions over the alliance’s eastern frontier and North Atlantic Treaty Organization jets mobilized to shoot them down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
It follows the Scottish FA's independent review into events surrounding last term's Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox, which was marred by unrest and pitch incursions from both sets of fans.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
His successful predictions included rebellious activity by the peasants in Styria, incursions into Austria by the Turks in the east and a cold winter.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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.
