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.
“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
Dean testified that orders to burglarize the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers to news organizations in 1971, came “right out of the Oval Office.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 21, 2015
“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
Brand-new words which have not become established in good use: as, "burglarize," "enthuse," "electrocute."
From Practical Exercises in English by Buehler, Huber Gray
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.
