break in/break into sth
— phrasal verb with break uk/breɪk/us/breɪk/verb broke, broken
B1 to get into a building or car using force, usually to steal something:
The burglars broke in through the kitchen window.
My car's been broken into twice this month.
More examples
- The burglars disabled the alarm and used a glass cutter to break into the house.
- He had to break into the house because his girlfriend had locked him out.
- Thieves broke in and stole jewellery worth thousands of pounds.
- Someone broke into the office while the security guard was on the phone to his wife.
- Police caught him trying to break into the safe.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Stealing
- abscond
- aggravated burglary
- appropriate
- armed robbery
- breaking and entering idiom
- duff
- liberate
- light-fingered
- loot
- looting
- make off with sth
- mug
- relieve
- rob
- robbery
- run off with sth
- scrump
- shoplifting
- sting
- whip
See more results »