house-break, v.
(ˈhaʊsbreɪk)
[Back-formation from next or house-breaking; cf. housekeep.]
1. intr. To break into a house with felonious intent.
| 1820 Shelley Hymn Mercury xlix, The lord of those Who swindle, house-break, sheep-steal, and shop-lift. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 22 Oct. 3/1 To housebreak in his own humorous fashion. |
2. trans. To train (a domestic animal) to be clean in the house. Also transf., to train (a person) to adopt a specified mode of behaviour within a house. Freq. in pa. pple. or ppl. a. house-broken. Chiefly U.S.
| 1900 Daily Chron. 27 Aug. 7/4 Malcourt, house-broken, runs to heel with the rest. 1905 T. Roosevelt Let. 14 May in Works (1926) XIX. 487 Skip is housebroken, but he is like a real little Indian. 1922 Hotel World 20 May 6/2, I am ‘bawled out’ by the dog owner saying that the management of such and such a hotel never objects to a house-broke dog being taken care of in a room. 1932 Wodehouse Hot Water xii. 207 House-broken husband though he was, he still had an eye for beauty. 1945 J. Steinbeck Cannery Row xx. 82 He didn't even house-break her [sc. a puppy]. 1948 G. Vidal City & Pillar ii. x. 256 We weren't like all these other people here; we weren't housebroken. 1955 W. W. Denlinger Compl. Boston 148 Some prospective dog owners fear the ordeal of housebreaking a dog. 1961 Wodehouse Service with Smile (1962) ii. 36 You won't mind if I bring a friend with me?.. He is house-broken and eats whatever you're having yourself. |