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Synonyms

housebreak

American  
[hous-breyk] / ˈhaʊsˌbreɪk /

verb (used with object)

housebroke, housebroken, housebreaking

  1. to train (a pet) to excrete outdoors or in a specific place.

Etymology

Origin of housebreak

First recorded in 1895–1900; house + break

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.

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

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.