burglebur‧gle /ˈbɜːɡəl $ ˈbɜːr-/ verb [transitive] British English 
Word Origin Examples
We’ve been burgled three times.► see thesaurus at steal
Word OriginWORD ORIGINburgle
Verb TableOrigin:
1900-2000 burglarVERB TABLE
burgle
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | burgle |
| he, she, it | burgles | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | burgled |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have burgled |
| he, she, it | has burgled | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had burgled |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will burgle |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have burgled |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am burgling |
| he, she, it | is burgling | |
| you, we, they | are burgling | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was burgling |
| you, we, they | were burgling | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been burgling |
| he, she, it | has been burgling | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been burgling |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be burgling |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been burgling |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- He was caught burgling the house of a police officer.
- A jemmy might suggest the murderer had gone to burgle the premises.
- He could not see too much that could be done quickly about the criminals who travelled from Wearside and Tyneside to burgle.
- There were far more profitable houses to burgle within a stone's throw of her own modest establishment.
THESAURUS► steal
to go into a building and steal things SYN burglarize American English: to illegally take something that belongs to someone else: · The thieves stole over £10,000 worth of computer equipment.· Thousands of cars get stolen every year.
► take to steal something – used when it is clear from the situation that you mean that someone takes something dishonestly: · The boys broke into her house and took all her money.· They didn’t take much – just a few items of jewellery.
► burgle British English, burglarize American English [usually passive] to go into someone’s home and steal things, especially when the owners are not there: · Their house was burgled while they were away.· If you leave windows open, you are asking to be burgled.
► rob to steal money or other things from a bank, shop, or person: · The gang were convicted of robbing a bank in Essex.· An elderly woman was robbed at gunpoint in her own home.· He’s serving a sentence for robbing a grocery store.
► mug to attack someone in the street and steal something from them: · People in this area are frightened of being mugged when they go out.· Someone tried to mug me outside the station.
► nick/pinch British English informal to steal something: · Someone’s nicked my wallet!· When I came back, my car had been pinched.
► embezzle to steal money from the organization you work for, especially money that you are responsible for: · Government officials embezzled more than $2.5 million from the department.
► shoplifting stealing things from a shop by taking them when you think no one is looking: · Shoplifting costs stores millions of pounds every year.
► phishing the activity of dishonestly persuading people to give you their credit card details over the Internet, so that you can steal money from their bank account: · Phishing is becoming very popular with computer criminals.
Longman Language Activatorto steal from a house, shop, or bank► rob to steal money or property from a bank, shop etc, especially by using threats or violence: · He got five years in jail for robbing a gas station.· Two men robbed the Central Bank yesterday, escaping with over $1 million.
► burgle British /burglarize American to illegally enter a house or office and steal things: · He was caught burgling the house of a police officer.· Our apartment has been burglarized twice since we moved here.
► shoplift to steal things from a shop, for example by hiding them under your clothes or in a bag: · The clerk spotted the girl shoplifting and stopped her from leaving the store.
► hold up to go into a bank, shop etc with a gun and demand money: · The men who held up the store were wearing Halloween masks.· He was arrested and charged with holding up a cab driver.
► loot to steal things from shops or other buildings, especially during a war or at a time when the police or army have lost control of an area: · His store was broken into and looted during the riot.· As the army advanced toward Mantes it burned and looted everything that lay in its path.
We’ve been burgled three times.► see thesaurus at steal