burglary
Americannoun
-
burglaries
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of burglary
1150–1200; Middle English < Anglo-French burglarie; see burglar, -y 3
Explanation
A burglary is committed when a person breaks into a building with the intent of committing a crime, especially if the crime is to steal valuable items. What's the difference between burglary and robbery? In a burglary, the criminal has to enter the building or structure illegally (breaking and entering), and the victim of the theft is unlikely to have contact with the burglar — or to even know about the theft until after the burglar is gone. In a robbery, however, a victim has to be present, and the criminal commits the crime by using violence or threatening the victim with violence.
Vocabulary lists containing burglary
List 3
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Crime and Punishment
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List 8
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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:
Los Angeles police confirmed the attempted burglary at the home of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ son.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Paul, who was a contestant on the second series of the popular BBC series, said he reported the burglary to Cheshire Police, with the force describing it as a "one-off hit".
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Cheshire Police confirmed investigations were ongoing into the burglary but no arrests had been made.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
The last time the justices heard a case filed by a petitioner without a lawyer was in 2021, when the court took an appeal from William Wooden, a prisoner challenging burglary convictions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
It hadn’t been a regular burglary that night, even though Frankie tried to make it sound like one.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
But after the Sheriff’s Department released a bulletin calling for other possible victims to come forward, detectives learned of several additional burglaries possibly linked to Lavie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The reports range from brazen burglaries to visitors nervous about a bear wandering by.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Dallas Cowboys player Linval Joseph and Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis were also targeted in different burglaries.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Talk of expanding the role of drones has been ongoing for years but ramped up in 2025 after a public outcry over a series of high-profile burglaries on the city’s Westside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
There'd be fewer burglaries around here if people listened to her about putting in dead-bolt locks.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
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.
