Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A forcible entry, as into a building or room, for an illegal purpose, especially theft.
- noun An initial period of employment or operation during which the performance of a person or thing may be evaluated and adjusted.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In carpentry, a hole made in brickwork with the ripping-chisel, to receive a plug, the end of a beam, or the like.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun an act of trespassing into a closed structure such as a house or place of busineess for an unlawful purpose, usually as part of a burglary.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An act of
entering somewhere with theintent tosteal or commit some otheroffence .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun trespassing for an unlawful purpose; illegal entrance into premises with criminal intent
- verb enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act
- verb break into a conversation
- verb break so as to fall inward
- verb start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role
- verb intrude on uninvited
- verb make submissive, obedient, or useful
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The late Rutgers law professor Arthur Kinoy argued that the Nixon White House was tipped off that the Supreme Court was about to disapprove of warrantless wiretapping and the purpose of the break-in was to retrieve bugs that had been placed in the DNC headquarters.
The Conservative Assault on the Constitution Erwin Chemerinsky 2010
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Comfortable in his office, slagging off the police for not attending a break-in that occurred 5 days ago that has just been called in.
Citizen Focus – meet the “customer”. « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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He was responding to a reported break-in at a specific house.
Release the Crowley/Gates tapes. - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState 2009
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Gates protested that he had been racially profiled as a black man when arrested for disorderly conduct in his own home by a white police officer responding to a break-in call.
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In many of these cases, violence accompanies the break-in.
Release the Crowley/Gates tapes. - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState 2009
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These included revisiting my above-described migraine, walking alone at night in an unsafe neighborhood, heart-attack-like symptoms and reporting a break-in at my house in the middle of the night.
A Device for When You're Hurt, Lost or Feeling Scared Katherine Boehret 2011
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Not only was she seen with Joseph on Monday, guests and employees at the hotel noticed her and Joseph together just before the break-in today.
Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die the Deep End of Fear Elizabeth Chandler 2011
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DCPI Officer Peter Figoski Officer Peter Figoski, 47 years old, and his partner, Glenn Estrada, were providing backup outside the scene of the break-in about 2:15 a.m. when a suspected robber burst out of the basement apartment.
Officer Killed in Brooklyn Robbery Sean Gardiner 2011
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I wish to report a break-in and what appears to be an unfortunate casualty resulting from it….
Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die the Deep End of Fear Elizabeth Chandler 2011
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They were called to the residence on reported break-in.
Release the Crowley/Gates tapes. - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState 2009
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