incursion
(ɪnˈkɜːʃən)
Also 6 incurtion, incourcion, encursion.
[ad. L. incursiōn-em, n. of action f. incurrĕre to incur: cf. F. incursion (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. The action of running in or of running against.
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 174 As the winde it passeth and repasseth at his pleasure, vnseene, but not vnfelt; for the force and incursion thereof is not without a kinde of violence. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. 761 The Democriticks and Epicureans did..suppose, all humane Cogitations to be Caused..by the Incursion of Corporeal Atoms upon the Thinker. 1760 Johnson Idler No. 103 ¶8 The inevitable incursion of new images. 1885 Law Times LXXX. 133/2 The cargo was damaged by the incursion of sea-water through a hole in a pipe. |
2. A hostile inroad or invasion; esp. one of sudden and hasty character; a sudden attack.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 363 That other is expownede to the incursion of deuelles. 1494 Fabyan Chron. v. lxxxiii. 61 And the Saxons..shuld defende the lande from Incursion of all Enemyes. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions Pref. 8 To auoied the inuasion of beastes, and menne of straunge borders..with commune aide to withstande suche encursions. 1591 Horsey Trav. (Hakluyt Soc.) 158 He had continuall warrs with the Crimme Tartor, who did sore anoye him..with their yearly incourcions. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 301 Against the Scythian, whose incursions wild Haue wasted Sogdiana. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. (1869) I. i. 20 Their incursions were frequently repelled and chastised. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xiv, There had been repeated incursions of the Highlanders into the very town of Perth. 1885 J. Martineau Types Eth. Th. II. 24 The consequences become..terrible like an incursion of wild beasts. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1640 Bp. Reynolds Passions xxviii. 296 It least of all suffers the Incursion of grosser Passions. 1660 Jer. Taylor Worthy Commun. i. v. 103 We give too much way to the daily incursions of the smaller irregularities of our lives. 1700 Dryden Ceyx & Alcyone 471 To the neighbouring mole she strode, Rais'd there to break th' incursions of the flood. 1794 Paley Evid. ii. vi. (1817) 135 The sudden and critical incursion of the disease. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. iv. 34 An embankment..to defend the land from the incursions of the river. |
† c. sins of daily incursion: the small sins which make daily inroads upon a holy life. Cf. quot. 1660 in b. Obs.
| a 1655 Vines Lord's Supp. (1677) 236 Quotidian sins of daily incursion. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 67. 1/1 Lesser Miscarriages..stil'd by the Casuists, Sins of Daily Incursion are Inseparable to Frail Mortality. 1737 Waterland Eucharist 558 Sins of daily Incursion, such as are ordinarily consistent with a prevailing Love of God, and Love of our Neighbour. |
† 3. The action of incurring (blame or liability).
| 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God xv. xv. (1620) 521 Who dare affirme how many they were, without incursion of rashnes? |