housebreak
Americanverb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of housebreak
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:
Thanks to this bin they’ll be easy to find when I need to put down a dropcloth, light the charcoal grill or housebreak a puppy.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2022
He would in effect housebreak them, he suggested, checking their worst instincts.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2019
The task seems self-punishing, like trying to housebreak a chicken.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 15, 2019
It takes much less time to housebreak them.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 9, 2014
Mack intended to teach her tricks and go in vaudeville and he didn’t even housebreak her.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Douglas Daniel had 26 convictions - including for housebreaking and car theft - when he and his wife Barbara began fostering children in 1986.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
Produced on June 21, 2020, eight days after Mr. David’s arrest, the report said there was information indicating that he was involved in “a housebreaking and theft” at a farm belonging to Mr. Ramaphosa.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2022
Victoria Seaman, a Nevada assemblywoman and real estate agent who helped sponsor the new anti-squatter law, said Nevada is leading the nation in tough new housebreaking laws.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 30, 2016
It has a comprehensive list of guidelines—vaccine requirements, housebreaking rules, a strict “no biting” policy—but as long as those are followed, ORI allows a wide range of animals in the office.
From BusinessWeek ● Jun. 1, 2012
“It helps with housebreaking, although the person who found her said she seemed housebroken.”
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
The dog is old and blind and has health problems that contribute to frequent accidents, but Dave also never really housebroke him and failed to mention this before moving in with me.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2020
“Just gotta get him housebroke, and then he’s going out West,” Steve said.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 26, 2016
I’m domesticated, housebroken, and I cook a mean minestrone.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2019
At Southeast Missouri, which has about 11,500 students, critters will have to be family pets that are quiet, housebroken and get a roommate’s sign-off.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2018
Brazelton told the Times that the idea that a child should be housebroken like a puppy was “very logical – for a puppy.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2018
Are parents just tame animals, housebroken and desexed?
From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2017
Here I’d left a sweet, well-mannered, housebroken cat behind and they were dragging along two disgusting, smelly, flea-covered monkeys.
From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz
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.
