breaking and entering

American  

noun

Criminal Law.

1. forcible entry into the home or office of another.

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breaking and entering British  

noun

1. (formerly) the gaining of unauthorized access to a building with intent to commit a crime or, having committed the crime, the breaking out of the building

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Etymology

Origin of breaking and entering

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breaking and entering

Now, after breaking and entering the dwarfs’ home, Zegler doesn’t spend this iteration of “Whistle While You Work” tidying up with birds, squirrels and bunnies — she makes the men scrub their own damned floors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025

Squatting is legal is Australia, but laws prohibiting breaking and entering or trespass - remaining on private property when instructed to leave - still apply.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2024

Doubling of concepts is also common: null and void, breaking and entering, pain and suffering, legal and binding.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021

Kent Covington spent eight months in a North Carolina prison in 1974 for breaking and entering, and larceny, and later joined the church.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2018

With his words to Scott, with that last thought, Bennington shook the lethargy, the stillness of deep thought that had contained and enveloped him since the report of this breaking and entering.

From Take the Reason Prisoner by John Joseph McGuire