burglarize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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burglarizesimple
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burglarizessimple
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have burglarizedperfect
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has burglarizedperfect
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am burglarizingprogressive
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are burglarizingprogressive
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is burglarizingprogressive
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have been burglarizingperfect progressive
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has been burglarizingperfect progressive
Past
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burglarizedsimple
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had burglarizedperfect
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was burglarizingprogressive
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were burglarizingprogressive
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had been burglarizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of burglarize
Explanation
To burglarize is to break into a building or home and steal something from it. Your locked doors and barking dog are likely to stop a bad guy's plan to burglarize your house. In the UK, you'd probably use the verb burgle instead, but in the US burglarize is more common. You're even more likely to simply say "steal" or "rob," but if you need to be specific about the fact that a building was entered illegally during the crime, say burglarize.
Vocabulary lists containing burglarize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“It just kept playing in my mind, ‘How can you burglarize this?’”
From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2021
While Dr. Dre was undergoing treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for a possible brain aneurysm Tuesday night, four men were arrested after they allegedly tried to burglarize the music mogul’s Brentwood mansion, police said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2021
As thousands demonstrated in Washington this week to protest racial inequality and police brutality, scores of people used the civil unrest as a chaotic cover to burglarize businesses, according to police data and arrest records.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 5, 2020
“Eric Rivera Jr. would not have been in that car on the way to burglarize Sean Taylor’s house that night if he was a really good football player,” Dorsey said in a phone interview.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 29, 2014
The Heads must win.—What puzzles me Is why in Hades there should be A watchdog; 'tis, I should surmise, The last place one would burglarize.
From A Handbook for Latin Clubs by Paxson, Susan
The horror thriller, about a valet who burglarizes the houses of his rich customers, earned a B-minus rating on CinemaScore and a 56% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2018
Sielsch drove to a home that had been burglarized by a bear to install an electric mat on the back porch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Unluckily for McCoy, the home that had been burglarized was located on a street where he regularly rode his bicycle in a loop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
He also investigates stolen tractors and off-road vehicles, burglarized deer camps, and financial crimes, like a $2 million case that involved a man who took out bank loans on cows he didn’t own.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Pitt, who owns several properties across the globe, is understood to have been away from the dwelling when it was burglarized on the evening of June 25.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2025
It isn’t merely coincidental or surprising, as when the newscaster thoughtlessly reports, “Ironically, the jewelry store was burglarized on the same date last year.”
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
According to the probation report, Prowell, who is Black, admitted burglarizing the houses in Beverly Hills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
Santa Monica Police spotted and stopped a man who was burglarizing vehicles in a parking lot near the pier by using a drone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2024
It's as if G. Gordon Liddy kept burglarizing various Democratic offices after the Watergate break-in, but the reporting on his later crimes failed to mention the first one.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2020
A single count of burglarizing a home carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years, but Ms. Maloney said Maine courts rarely imposed the maximum when no one was assaulted.
From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2013
So Stumpy roamed through yard, kitchen, and stable, stalking over bleaching sheets, burglarizing the garden gate, and grazing wherever he chose.
From Tom Grogan by Smith, Francis Hopkinson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
