inroad

Syllables: in·road/ˈɪnɹəʊd//ˈɪnˌɹoʊd/

inroad noun: an advance into enemy territory, an attempted invasion; an encroachment, an incursion.

Noun

inroad (plural inroads)

(also, figuratively) An advance into enemy territory, an attempted invasion; an encroachment, an incursion.
- […] That ſince that time he [Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus] was become the ſubject of King Henry [VIII] of England, his Majeſty's [James V of Scotland's] greateſt enemy; and was now the cauſe of all the Inroads made by the English into Scotland: […]1537, David Scott, “Papers Illustrative of the Trial of Jonet Lady Glammys. I. Narrative Taken from the History of Scotland, by David Scott of the Inner Temple.”, in [Robert Pitcairn, compiler]...
- [A] child knowing the heate of fire, will as readely iudge of the perrill, as the wiſeſt Senatour, of the inroad of a borderer, or the politick captaine, of the vnequall encoũter with his enimy, […]1586, T[imothie] Bright, “The Particular Aunswere to the Obiections Made in the II Chapter”, in A Treatise of Melancholie. […], London: […] Thomas Vautrollier, […], →OCLC, page 75
Synonyms:

foray, inbreak, inbreaking, infall, raid
(figuratively, plural-normally) Often followed by in, into, or on: initial progress made toward accomplishing a goal or solving a problem.
- Three weeks into it, I am finally beginning to make inroads on this project.
- You must have been fairly surprised at Dr. Glaser's inroads into reprogramming the brain.1983 October 10, Eugenie Ross-Leming, Brad Buckner, “If Thoughts Could Kill”, in Scarecrow and Mrs. King, season 1, episode 3

Verb

inroad (third-person singular simple present inroads, present participle inroading, simple past and past participle inroaded)

(archaic, intransitive) To make advances or incursions.
- [Y]ou muſt not expect him to go with you, inroading or making incurſions into Georgia; for he is an Armenian, true to his faith; and not a Georgian, falſe and diſtruſtful!1792, Joseph Emin, The Life and Adventures of Joseph Émïn, an Armenian. […], London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 358
- [T]his is the first war that has befallen in my time, and no inimy has yet inroaded far enough into the Colony, to be reached by an arm even longer than mine.1841, J[ames] Fenimore Cooper, chapter IV, in The Deerslayer: A Tale. […], 1st British edition, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 100
(obsolete, transitive) To make an inroad into (something).
- [Y]ea, the Saracens had lately waſted Italy, conquered Spain, inroded Aquitain, and poſſeſſed ſome iſlands in the mid-land-ſea.1639, Thomas Fuller, “The Character of Peter the Hermite; His Soliciting the Holy Warre; the Councel at Clermont, and the Successe thereof”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge...
- The kyngdom of Heven be Chriſt, 'teys reſembled to this noble kyng / With riches inroded mercy for to lern, and to have compaſſion. / One of another, after goddes Faſſyon.1781, “Hundred of Depwade”, in History and Antiquities of the County of Norfolk, volumes II (Containing the Hundreds of Clavering, Depwade, Diss, and Earsham), Norwich, Norfolk: […] J. Crouse, for M....
Synonyms:

invade

Proper noun capitalized: Inroad

Inroad

A barangay of Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines.

inroad meaning in Tamil, Bengali and Kannada

inroad in Tamil

எல்லைமீறி நுழைந்து தாக்குதல், அத்துமீறல், ஆக்கிரமிப்பு, எல்லையுட் புகுந்து கொள்ளை, தாக்குதல்

inroad in Bengali

অনুপ্রবেশ, আক্রমণ, অনধিকার প্রবেশ

inroad in Kannada

ದಿಡೀರ‍್ದಾಳಿ, ಒತ್ತುವರಿ

Examples of inroad in a sentence

Whence is it that ſo many corrupt Opinions have made ſuch an Inroad on Proteſtant Religion, and the Profeſſion of it?1683, Samuel Annesley, “The Chamber of Imagery in the Church of Rome Laid Open; or An Antidote against Popery. […] Sermon X.”, in A...
[T]he Britains, left to ſhift for themſelves, and daily haraſſed by cruel Inroads from the Picts, were forced to call in the Saxons for their Defence; […]1712 March 4 (date written; Gregorian calendar), J[onathan] Swift, A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English...
The brave and active Conſtantius delivered Gaul from a very furious inroad of the Alemanni; and his victories of Langres and Vindoniſſa appear to have been actions of conſiderable danger and merit.1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter XIII, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and...
Since the destruction of the old Roman Empire by inroad of the Northern Barbarians, I have known nothing similar.1850 February 1, Thomas Carlyle, “No. I. The Present Time.”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 5–6:

All 20 example sentences with inroad

Synonyms of inroad

All synonyms of inroad

Forms of inroad

Noun
plural	inroads
Verb
third-person singular present	inroads
present participle	inroading
past participle	inroaded
past	inroaded

Origin of inroad

The noun is derived from in + road (“(obsolete) act of riding on horseback; hostile ride against a particular area, raid”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Questions about inroad

What does inroad mean?: Inroad means an advance into enemy territory, an attempted invasion; an encroachment, an incursion.
What is inroad in Tamil?: Inroad in Tamil is எல்லைமீறி நுழைந்து தாக்குதல், அத்துமீறல், ஆக்கிரமிப்பு. See Inroad meaning in Tamil.
How do you use inroad in a sentence?: Whence is it that ſo many corrupt Opinions have made ſuch an Inroad on Proteſtant Religion, and the Profeſſion of it?
What part of speech is inroad?: Inroad can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce inroad?: Inroad is pronounced /ˈɪnɹəʊd/ (UK).
What is the plural of inroad?: The plural of inroad is inroads.

Words near inroad in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: inroad (page history and authors); Inroad (page history and authors); inroad (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Inroad (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); inroad (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-inroad.wav, En-us-inroad.oga.

Cite this entry: “inroad.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inroad. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.