Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To housebreak.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To teach a house pet to urinate and defecate outside or in a designated location in the home.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

house +‎ train

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Examples

  • This public thinks that I look "like a dog" and use my column to housetrain the folks I resemble!

    Woman drives 200 miles to kill internet commenter? Alexandra Petri 2010

  • Stormy dog was hard to housetrain, it took months for him to get it, even with crate training.

    The Agony of Home Renovations Field Notes 2009

  • You do it the same way you housetrain a puppy - by rubbing their noses in it and smacking them upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper.

    New Ad Stars Fellow McCain POW Suggesting He's Unfit To Be President 2009

  • In the next hundred days, we will housetrain our dog, Bo, because the last thing Tim Geithner needs is someone else treating him like a fire hydrant.

    White House Correspondents Dinner Speech 2009

  • You'd think they'd stop printing this sort of thing on paper by now, but I suppose if they did people would have nothing to housetrain their new puppies on.

    From the BSNYC Culture Desk: Nerds and Bikes BikeSnobNYC 2008

  • You'd think they'd stop printing this sort of thing on paper by now, but I suppose if they did people would have nothing to housetrain their new puppies on.

    Archive 2008-05-01 BikeSnobNYC 2008

  • I hope they housetrain him and he finds a home soon.

    A bit of a "pupdate" ... Lisa B. 2007

  • My idea was the keep the dog in her kennel when we weren't home, but let her out in spurts throughout the day when we were there so that she could get used to the house and we could housetrain her.

    A dog's life 2004

  • So, after witnessing this experience, I knew I would have to leave the dog in the cage to sleep and when no one was around, but I didn't mind since this is a good way to housetrain a puppy.

    A dog's life 2004

  • My idea was the keep the dog in her kennel when we weren't home, but let her out in spurts throughout the day when we were there so that she could get used to the house and we could housetrain her.

    A dog's life 2004

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