trespass

noun | \ ˈtres-pəs, -ˌpas \ | tres·pass
  1. a : a willful act or active negligence as distinguished from a mere omission of a duty that causes an injury to or invasion of the person, rights, or especially property of another; also : the common-law form of action for redress of injuries directly caused by such a wrongful act — compare trespass on the case in this entry : the common-law form of action for redress of injuries directly caused by such a wrongful act — compare trespass on the case in this entry

    b : trespass quare clausum fregit in this entry

    — computer trespass
    : the act of using or gaining access to a computer or computer network without authorization especially for the purpose of committing a crime or harming or removing programs, data, or hardware

    — continuing trespass
    : a trespass that continues until the act (as of depriving another of his or her property without the intent to steal it) or instrumentality (as an object placed wrongfully on another's land) causing it is ended or removed

    — criminal trespass
    : trespass to property that is forbidden by statute and punishable as a crime as distinguished from trespass that creates a cause of action for damages

    — trespass ab initio
    : a trespass that arises upon a lawful act which because of subsequent unlawful or wrongful conduct is deemed under a legal fiction to have been trespassory from the beginning

    — trespass de bonis asportatis
    : a common-law form of action to recover for trespass involving the carrying off of one's goods by another

    — trespass on the case
    : a common-law form of action to recover for another's wrongful act that indirectly causes one's injury — called also action on the case, case

    — trespass quare clausum fregit
    : a trespass that involves wrongful and tortious entry on another's real property

    — trespass to try title
    : an action brought as a means of obtaining redress for a trespass to real property and determining the title to the property

    — trespass vi et armis
    : a trespass involving intentional infliction of injury on a person

trespass

intransitive verb
  1. : to commit a trespass against

    : to commit a trespass against