housebroken

[hous-broh-kuh n]

See more synonyms for housebroken on Thesaurus.com

adjective

(of a pet) trained to avoid excreting inside the house or in improper places.

Origin of housebroken

First recorded in 1895–1900; house + broken

housebreak

[hous-breyk]

verb (used with object), house·broke, house·bro·ken, house·break·ing.

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

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 for housebroken

subdued, gentle, harmless, mild, docile, manageable, pilfer, kidnap, swipe, remove, keep, plunder, take, strip, embezzle, loot, abduct, divert, ransack, subdue

Examples from the Web for housebroken

Historical Examples of housebroken

He would consider himself hell on the women until snared and housebroken by some broad-beamed breeder who knew what she wanted.
The Trial of Callista Blake
Edgar Pangborn
Of course, it'll be harder gettin' 'em housebroken if you don't let 'em into the house, but I'll guarantee you'll do it.
The Dogs of Boytown
Walter A. Dyer
This is a quickie Rum Tum Tiddy, without any onion, a poor, housebroken version of the original.
The Complete Book of Cheese
Robert Carlton Brown

Word Origin and History for housebroken

housebreak

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.