inroad

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a noticeable advance, effect, or penetration, especially in the phrase make an inroad or make inroads

   The new treatment made a significant inroad into the hospital's waiting list.

2. 2
   noun

   historical: a hostile incursion or raid into another territory

   The chronicle records an inroad by raiders across the northern border.

Formed from in + road in its obsolete sense 'raid or hostile ride'; road is related to ride. The literal sense of an incursion developed into the modern figurative sense of penetration or progress.

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