burgle
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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burgles,
present (3rd person singular)
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burgled,
past participle, past
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burgling
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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burglesimple
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burglessimple
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have burgledperfect
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has burgledperfect
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am burglingprogressive
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are burglingprogressive
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is burglingprogressive
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have been burglingperfect progressive
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has been burglingperfect progressive
Past
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burgledsimple
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had burgledperfect
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was burglingprogressive
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were burglingprogressive
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had been burglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of burgle
First recorded in 1870–75; back formation from burglar
Explanation
When you burgle, you steal something from inside a house or a building. A computer thief might burgle several laptops after sneaking into a school at night. It's common to use to verb burgle in Britain, while in the United States people are more likely to say burglarize. Both words basically means "to steal from inside a building." If you burgle and are caught, the crime you'll be charged with is called "burglary." Burgle has been in use since the 1860s, when it was a jokey, colloquial word based on burglar, with its Latin root of burgare, "to break open."
Vocabulary lists containing burgle
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:
With lunch approaching in Sydney and Australia attempting to burgle some overs to hasten the second new ball, the hosts asked Marnus Labuschagne to bowl some of his very occasional medium-pace.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
"There were guards at duty free as if we were going to burgle it," he told the BBC.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2022
“You make it as hard as possible for burglars in hopes that they look for some other house to burgle, but it’s impossible to ever completely secure your house.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 9, 2019
Ford’s conversion took England to within five points and they had two minutes to burgle a victory.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 22, 2015
You have no business to be trying to burgle.
From The Intrusion of Jimmy by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse
They speak a language that burgles and rains from their mouths like water through a pipe.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Every burglar who burgles in really humorous attitudes will burgle as much as he likes.
From All Things Considered by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
Here in America, when a man burgles your residence, you go and confide in a detective, who keeps your secret and gets another detective to help him.
From Remarks by Bill Nye
Once upon a time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s mansion was nearly burgled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Kelce's home was burgled on 7 October 2024 when he was away playing a game with the Kansas City Chiefs.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Moments before the lunch interval Markram burgled the wicket of Hazlewood when the Aussie number 11 slapped a long hop to Keshav Maharaj at cover and was dismissed for 17.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2025
The memo is also notable for one of the names in it - James McCord, who would later gain infamy as one of the men who burgled the Watergate complex.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2025
Before me, Lelia had come off a string of men who made her feel steadily sorry and confused and burgled.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Mr Rowlands assumed they were burgling a tobacco shop and the numbers referred to cigarettes.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2024
The burgling of the psychiatrist’s office has been misunderstood in many accounts of Ellsberg’s life.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2023
But, she says, “I’m not using my garden and the wood beyond my cottage as a sort of green Tesco, burgling myself some green serotonin and dopamine. It’s much more of a two-way relationship.”
From The Guardian ● Mar. 14, 2020
Former welder Caylor told police she had been assaulted but was later charged with burgling her sister's flat and perverting the course of justice.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2016
For the girl, especially, some fifty years ago, to escape from the family into the world was much the same thing as burgling a penitentiary; so she stayed, compulsorily grouped.
From The Intelligence of Woman by Walter Lionel George
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