incursion
- noun
- /ɪnˈkɜrʒən/
- The small Finnish army was able to keep incursions by Russian red troops at bay too.
- a military incursion
- an Israeli incursion
- border incursions
Look, the the US has had two major incursions into Mexico.
- Look, the the US has had two major incursions into Mexico.
- Aurelian, Probus and the Tetrarchs beat back a series of barbarian incursions along the northern frontier.
- But also at the same time the Byzantine Empire would start experiencing Danubian frontier incursions, attacks from the Balkans.
- But I did see the headlines this weekend that you referenced earlier that Ukraine has made this valiant incursion into Russian territory.
- Just like what Ukrainians said the night before the incursion.
- You know, some parts might be blitzkrieg style, some parts might be long incursion.
Examples
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Look, the the US has had two major incursions into Mexico.
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The surprise incursion by enemy forces disrupted the peace talks in the region.
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You made an incursion onto an enemy planet!
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What about the incursion into Kuwait?
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An armed incursion now would undermine those negotiations.
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They're reporting a Rebel incursion.
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As could be expected, the UN, the US, and Syria reacted strongly to the new Israeli incursion.
Academic text (2016) -
The Afghans will wait out this latest incursion as they did those by every foreign invader since Alexander the Great.
Academic text (2011) -
On March 8 and March 17, 2012, the Ethiopian army made two incursions into Eritrean territories.
Blog text (25) -
Many Turks joined Ottoman incursions into Southeast Europe for opportunity and adventure.
Academic text (2009)
Synonyms
A sudden attack by police or soldiers on a place
A military attack that breaks through enemy defenses and enters their territory
A short sudden attack to take things from an enemy place
A sudden armed attack into enemy land to take control or steal goods
A sudden attack by troops leaving a defensive position
A sudden forceful entry of people or things into a place
Antonyms
How Invasive
Surface Forms
Morphology
incursion = incur (semi-transparent) = in + curs + sion
The morphological formation parallels sense 1 (in- + root + -sion), but because the root element is not a visible English word and 'incur' commonly means something else, the derivation is not fully transparent to learners.
Etymology
Incursion comes from the Latin parts in- 'into' and currere 'to run', so it paints the picture of a quick 'running into' enemy land. That's why an incursion is a sudden, short attack or raid into another land.