burglarynoun [ C or U ]
uk/ˈbɜː.ɡlər.i/us/ˈbɝː.ɡlɚ.i/B2 the crime of illegally entering a building and stealing things
Examples
- Several men were questioned by police yesterday about the burglary.
- Simpson, aged 19, was convicted on two charges of burglary.
- The latest crime figures show a sharp rise in burglaries.
- Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the Kingsland Road area.
- Many people in the neighbourhood have been victims of burglary at least once.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Stealing
- abscond
- aggravated burglary
- appropriate
- armed robbery
- break in/break into sth
- duff
- liberate
- light-fingered
- loot
- looting
- make off with sth
- mug
- relieve
- rob
- robbery
- run off with sth
- scrump
- shoplifting
- sting
- whip
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Examples from literature
- Every considerable dwelling in this neighbourhood has been entered, and I have no doubt you are the men who committed all the burglaries.
- If they are prevented working for six weeks, it might lead them to procure support for their wives and children by burglary, larceny or highway robbery.
- In law if the word burglary is used in the indictment, the defense, in order to quash the charge, need show merely that a doorwas unlocked.
- Robbery and burglary are generally counted as crimes of violence, but they should be properly classed under property crimes.
- Where is the document you took from my uncle's desk on the night of the burglary?