In Anglo-Saxon and Norman England: the crime of breaking into a house, spec. in order to assault its occupants.

close-breaking, burglary.

Law. The action or an act of entering a building or vehicle with the intent to commit a theft or other serious offence. Cf. enter, v. 15g.

Law. Illegal entry; = intrusion, n. 2.

The action or crime of breaking into and entering a house or other building with intent to steal or commit another criminal act.

The act of forcing a passage into another person's house or other building; frequently in breaking and entering, = housebreaking, n.