Lexic.us

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?"

2. Verb. Break into a conversation. "Her husband always chimes in, even when he is not involved in the conversation"

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

4. Verb. Intrude on uninvited. "The nosy couple broke in on our conversation"

5. Verb. Break so as to fall inward. "He broke in the door"

6. Verb. Make submissive, obedient, or useful. "I broke in the new intern"

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 (current term) 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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