BREAK IN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does break in mean? 

• BREAK IN (verb)
  The verb BREAK IN has 6 senses:

1. enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act

2. break into a conversation

3. start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role

4. intrude on uninvited

5. break so as to fall inward

6. make submissive, obedient, or useful

  Familiarity information: BREAK IN used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BREAK IN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

break; break in

Context example:

who broke into my account last night?

Hypernyms (to "break in" is one way to...):

intrude; trespass (enter unlawfully on someone's property)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break in"):

crack (gain unauthorized access computers with malicious intentions)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

break-in (trespassing for an unlawful purpose; illegal entrance into premises with criminal intent)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Break into a conversation

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

barge in; break in; butt in; chime in; chisel in; cut in; put in

Context example:

her husband always chimes in, even when he is not involved in the conversation

Hypernyms (to "break in" is one way to...):

break up; cut off; disrupt; interrupt (make a break in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break in"):

disrupt; interrupt (interfere in someone else's activity)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "break in" is one way to...):

begin; commence; get; get down; set about; set out; start; start out (take the first step or steps in carrying out an action)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Intrude on uninvited

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The nosy couple broke in on our conversation

Hypernyms (to "break in" is one way to...):

intrude; irrupt (enter uninvited)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Break so as to fall inward

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

He broke in the door

Hypernyms (to "break in" is one way to...):

break (destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break in"):

stave in (break in the staves (of))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make submissive, obedient, or useful

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

break; break in

Context example:

I broke in the new intern

Hypernyms (to "break in" is one way to...):

domesticate; domesticise; domesticize; reclaim; tame (overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable)

Cause:

break (be broken in)

Verb group:

break (be broken in)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

A type of break in a bone caused by pressure and in which the bone collapses.

(Compression fracture, NCI Dictionary)

A bruise; an injury of a part without a break in the skin.

(Contusion, Food and Drug Administration)

Fractures in which the break in bone is not accompanied by an external wound.

(Closed Fracture, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

The leakage of a substance from a body orifice or break in skin integrity.

(Body Substance Discharge, NCI Thesaurus)

A fracture is a break in a bone.

(Ankle Injuries and Disorders, NIH)

A localized collection of blood, usually clotted, in an organ, space, or tissue, due to a break in the wall of a blood vessel.

(Hematoma, NCI Thesaurus)

It usually starts when bacteria get into a break in the skin, such as a cut, scratch, or insect bite.

(Impetigo, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

I don’t see how that is to be managed, unless you break in the door.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Nothing could break in upon that serene intoxication.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A break in the lining of the lower part of the esophagus, the stomach, or the upper part of the small intestine.

(Peptic Ulcer, NCI Dictionary)