Advances or intrusions into something, especially unwanted progress that reduces or takes over something else.
From 'in' and 'road,' originally meaning literal roads or paths made into a territory. By the 1600s, it evolved to mean 'invasions' and then figuratively 'gradual advances or encroachments.'
When people talk about 'making inroads,' they're actually using military language—it originally meant enemy armies carving paths through territory. Now we use it for everything from technology disrupting industries to inflation eroding savings.
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