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
Zandile Christmas Mafe, 49, who liked to talk politics with friends, was charged on Tuesday with arson, theft, housebreaking and possession of explosives.
From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 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
All the puppy books say to take your puppy out every hour when housebreaking.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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
One housebroken joey would watch television in their living room.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2021
Puppies are a ton of work, 24 hours a day, and there are loads of pleasant 1-year-old dogs who are already housebroken and leash-trained clogging our nation’s shelters.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 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
The sisters don’t agree on much but they both detest Vicky, a smelly beast too stupid to be housebroken and forever fouling the house and bumping into things she shouldn’t.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2014
Anyone who’s ever had a cat that’s not housebroken can imagine the smells, other than pepper and thyme, that permeate this house.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
