burglarize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- unburglarized adjective
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.
Another resident, Andrés Calderón, 40, said several people in the neighborhood hadn’t wanted to leave their homes, fearing that thieves would burglarize them.
From New York Times • Feb. 4, 2024
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
In another development, someone this week apparently tried to burglarize the hospital mortuary where Kim’s body is awaiting positive identification.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2017
“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
In wet weather, when his vestibule is shallow, the sand-hill crane may burglarize him, or even get a snap judgment on him at the front door.
From Lippincott's Magazine, December, 1885 by Various
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.
