Definition of Break in

1. Verb. Enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act. "Who broke into my account last night?"

Exact synonyms: Break
Specialized synonyms: Crack
Generic synonyms: Intrude, Trespass
Derivative terms: Break-in

2. Verb. Break into a conversation. "Her husband always chimes in, even when he is not involved in the conversation"
Exact synonyms: Barge In, Butt In, Chime In, Chisel In, Cut In, Put In
Specialized synonyms: Disrupt, Interrupt
Generic synonyms: Break Up, Cut Off, Disrupt, Interrupt

3. Verb. Start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role.

4. Verb. Intrude on uninvited. "The nosy couple broke in on our conversation"
Generic synonyms: Intrude, Irrupt

5. Verb. Break so as to fall inward. "He broke in the door"
Generic synonyms: Break
Specialized synonyms: Stave In

6. Verb. Make submissive, obedient, or useful. "I broke in the new intern"
Exact synonyms: Break
Causes: Break
Related verbs: Break
Generic synonyms: Domesticate, Domesticise, Domesticize, Reclaim, Tame

Definition of Break in

1. Verb. (intransitive) To enter a place by force or illicit means. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive idiomatic) To cause (something, or someone, new) to function more naturally through use or wear ¹

3. Verb. (transitive of a horse) To tame; make obedient; to train to follow orders of the owner. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Break In

break a leg
break a sweat
break apart
break away
break bad
break bread
break bulk
break camp
break cover
break dance
break dancing
break down
break even
break free
break ground
break in
break into
break it down
break loose
break new ground
break of dawn
break of day
break of serve
break of the day
break off
break on the wheel
break one's arm patting oneself on the back
break one's back
break one's duck
break one's fall

Literary usage of Break in

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. English Synonymes Explained in Alphabetical Order with Copious Illustrations by George Crabb (1887)
"BREAK, in Saxon ... low German ritan, high German reisten^ to split, Greek pr¡aa<a, Hebrew ram/naA, to break in pii-ccs. ..."

2. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery: During by Great Britain Court of Chancery, Edward Thurlow Thurlow, Alexander Wedderburn Rosslyn, Jonathan Cogswell Perkins (1844)
"GENERAL rule, that a trustee shall not of his own authority break in upon the capital of an infant's fortune (a). The Court very rarely has broken in upon ..."

3. An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat (1893)
"... foster- $ break in pieces; whence fracasso, a crash. — I tal. fra-, prefix, .... to break in amongst, destro (Diez). The vb. cassare is from Lat. ..."

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