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housebreak

[hous-breyk]
See more synonyms for housebreak on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object), house·broke, house·bro·ken, house·break·ing.
  1. to train (a pet) to excrete outdoors or in a specific place.
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Origin of housebreak

First recorded in 1895–1900; house + break
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

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Examples from the Web for housebreaking

Historical Examples

  • "Housebreaking is entirely out of my province," Tranter objected.

    The Crooked House

    Brandon Fleming

  • If I don't see you after we've bagged him I'd better charge him with housebreaking, I suppose?

    The Grell Mystery

    Frank Froest

  • He cannot enter, of course, or we could arrest him on a charge of housebreaking!

  • It was probably overtime at housebreaking that had told on him.

    Dwellers in Arcady

    Albert Bigelow Paine

  • Yes; he has just been sent to the Maryland penitentiary for housebreaking.

    Try Again

    Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for housebreaking

housebreaking

noun
  1. criminal law the act of entering a building as a trespasser for an unlawful purpose. Assimilated with burglary, 1968
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Derived Formshousebreaker, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for housebreaking

housebreak

v.

1820, "to break into a house criminally;" see house (n.) + break (v.). Perhaps a back-formation from housebreaker, attested from mid-14c. Sense of "to train a domestic animal to be clean in the house" is from 1881. Related: Housebreaking; housebroken.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper