Meanings
verbaccroach (third-person singular simple present accroaches, present participle accroaching, simple past and past participle accroached)
present singular third person accroaches · participle present accroaching · participle past accroached · past accroached
- transitiveTo hook, or draw to oneself as with a hook.
- transitiveTo usurp, as jurisdiction or royal prerogatives.
They had attempted to accroach to themselves the royal power.
1874-1878, William Stubbs, Constitutional History of England - intransitiveTo encroach.
Origin
- Old Frenchacrochier“to hook in”
- Middle Englishacrochen
- Englishaccroach
From Middle English acrochen, from Old French acrochier (“to hook in”), from a + croche (“hook”).
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with accroach
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
accroach. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/accroach
MLA
“accroach.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/accroach. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “accroach,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/accroach.
Source: accroach on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.