burglarize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
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
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
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
Tolbert says he believes that “will have an effect on those who burglarize homes in Flint.”
From Washington Times • Feb. 11, 2015
You'd have thought you was fixed out to burglarize a restaurant before you could get your grub.
From Sixes and Sevens by Henry, O.
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.
