The act of entering.
What is entry?
• Permission to enter.
• A doorway that provides a means of entering a building.
• The act of taking possession.
• The start of an insurance contract.
• A passageway between terraced houses that provides a means of entering a back garden or yard.
• A small room immediately inside the front door of a house or other building, often having an access to a stairway and leading on to other rooms
• A small group formed within a church, especially Episcopal, for simple dinner and fellowship, and to help facilitate new friendships
• An item in a list, such as an article in a dictionary or encyclopedia.
• A record made in a log, diary or anything similarly organized; a datum in a database.
• A term at any position in a matrix.
• The exhibition or depositing of a ship's papers at the customhouse, to procure licence to land goods; or the giving an account of a ship's cargo to the officer of the customs, and obtaining his permission to land the goods.
• The point when a musician starts to play or sing; entrance.
• The introduction of new hounds into a pack.
Why entry matters
entry appears in U.S. legal practice across multiple practice areas. Knowing what it means — and when it applies — can determine the outcome of motions, filings, and negotiations. For non-lawyers, the value of looking up a precise definition is that legal terms often carry meanings that differ from everyday usage; relying on the common meaning can lead to costly missteps.
How entry works in practice
In practice, entry is invoked when parties, judges, or attorneys need to identify the legal status of an issue, the rights of those involved, or the procedural step required next. The definition shown above is sourced from Wiktionary , which is widely cited in U.S. legal practice. Because U.S. law is jurisdictionally layered — federal, state, and sometimes local — the precise application of the term can vary by court, so check the controlling authority for your specific case.