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

Why should the man not be rude when her evidence had accused him of a serious crime—that of breaking and entering?

From The Motor Girls Through New England or, Held by the Gypsies by Penrose, Margaret