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
“You’d have better luck trying to housebreak a hyena.”
From The Guardian ● Mar. 11, 2017
Mack intended to teach her tricks and go in vaudeville and he didn’t even housebreak her.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
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
The court was told Mr Dornan had more than 30 convictions and had been jailed for housebreaking in 2011.
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2013
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
By that, I mean nice, smart, accomplished, shares some interests, is housebroken in most of the right ways?
From Slate ● Nov. 22, 2019
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
A counselor said try a therapy dog, so now she had Cheddar, just 8 weeks old and not yet housebroken, peeing everywhere and always yapping at her feet.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 10, 2016
I couldn’t have put it into words, but until that meeting, I had thought that I would recover with men and women like myself; which is to say, overeducated, fun to be with and housebroken.
From Salon ● Dec. 12, 2012
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.
