housebreakingn.
/ˈhaʊsˌbreɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈhaʊsˌbreɪkɪŋ/ 1. The action or crime of breaking into and entering a house or other building with intent to steal or commit another criminal act.Formerly legally applied to such a crime committed in the daytime; see burglary n.1In England and Wales this was replaced as a statutory crime by burglary in 1968.
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the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > burglary > [noun]
housebreachlOE
burgh-brechea1387
burglary1532
housebreaking1607
breaking and entering1617
game1811
crack1819
screwing1819
effraction1840
burst1857
burglarizing1872
burgling1880
ship-breaking1901
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > illegal entry
housebreachlOE
burgh-brechea1387
entry1588
trusiona1604
housebreaking1607
breaking1617
1607 T. Dekker & G. Wilkins Iests to make you Merie 27 What a villon was I, to leaue my old trade, meaning picking of pockets, to..steale into an othermans mysterie, namely house-breaking.
1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas at Burglary The Common Law restraines it to robbing of a house by night...The like offence committed by daie they call house breaking or robbing.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 348 The two Wenches swore home to the Fact, and the Jury found the Bill against me for Robbery and House-breaking.
1769 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (1809) IV. xvi. 223 Burglary, or nocturnal housebreaking..has always been looked upon as a very heinous offence.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist I. xix. 329 Producing his box of housebreaking tools.
1857 Ohio Jrnl. Educ. 6 70 If we had been the victim of arson, housebreaking, or pocket-picking, what should we think of a witness who..should refuse to give the testimony that would convict the offender?
1897 Daily News 9 Dec. 10/7 Housebreaking, which means entry before nine o'clock at night, is commoner with these retail criminals than burglary.
1933 Argus (Melbourne) 16 Dec. 23/4 Later, at the watchhouse, a painter, aged 34 years, and a woman, aged 24 years, were charged with housebreaking.
1973 ‘J. Patrick’ Glasgow Gang Observed iii. 27 Under the law of Scotland ‘housebreaking’ covers the forced entry of ‘any roofed building’, i.e. shops, factories, garages, as well as private houses.
2009 S. Carolina Lawyers Weekly (Nexis) 23 Nov. [The] judge..allowed defendant's convictions for housebreaking and larceny to be admitted..because they are crimes of dishonesty that weigh on his credibility.
2. Originally and chiefly North American. = house-training n. 2.
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1846 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Jan. 17/2 His employment in the field is limited to keeping his dogs in exercise, and to preparing them by steady house-breaking, for the sport of the more genial autumn.
1894 B. Waters Mod. Training & Handling vii. 101 House breaking..simply consists in teaching the dog correct everyday deportment and habits, when at liberty, in or about the house.
1923 Dog Fancier Jan. 9/1 In housebreaking the pup must never be over fed.
1948 T. Sturgeon in Weird Tales Nov. 13/2 I wish one-tenth of the customers showed as much good house-breaking.
1993 Dog World Feb. 76/2 If housebreaking is done in a negative manner, with ill-timed, physical corrections, it may have a long-lasting, detrimental effect.
2006 Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) (Nexis) 1 Sept. c1 Those cliched beer commercials..portray all males as Neanderthals in need of housebreaking.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1607