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🕵️ To enter illegally ✋ To interrupt 👟 To make comfortable 🚪 To start learning 🚨 To force open
to break in

to break in

73 3.9
To enter a building or computer system without permission, often by force
  • phrasal verb
  • /breɪk ɪn/
translation icon : forzar la entrada
  • Then he comes back here tonight, breaks in, and tries to murder you.
  • break in to steal
  • try to break in
  • intruders break in

Well, don't break in because that would be illegal.

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Examples

  • There, you can see the pane of glass he cut out in order to break in.

    Sleuth (1972)

  • If he's not home, we'll break in.

    Things (1989)

  • I think someone broke in last night.

    Help (2021)

  • We did all that and he broke in again.

    WarGames (1983)

  • -Well, they broke in and we were forced to defend ourselves.

    Renegades (2022)

  • We're gonna have to make it look as if somebody just, you know, they broke in and they stole it.

    Bachelorette (2012)

  • It's like trying to lock all the doors and windows when an intruder is breaking in.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • A prowler broke in and attacked Mrs. Peenman.

    The Mask (1994)

  • The room was a jumble, as if some thief had broken in and emptied the drawers and boxes.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The police arrived just in time to catch the thief trying to break in through the back window.

Synonyms

to break
vsto break in
597 8.0

To enter a building or computer without permission to steal

emphasizes entering often by force rather than intending theft
to hack
vsto break in
  • Texting
207 4.0

To get into a computer or network without permission

also applies to entering physical buildings or rooms illegally
to crack
vsto break in
  • Jargon
102 8.4

To break into a computer or online account without permission

also applies to physical buildings and rooms not only to digital systems
to get into
vsto break in
  • NSFW
39 6.3

Enter a computer system or account without permission

also applies to physical rooms and buildings as well as digital access
to burglarize
vsto break in
  • US
15 5.0

To enter a building without permission to steal things

also applies to computer systems and rooms beyond buildings
to burgle
vsto break in
  • UK
5 5.0

To enter a building illegally to steal things

often involves force more than mere unlawful entry

How Illegal

to burglarize
  • US
15 5.0
to break in
73 3.9
trespass
22 4.7
to sneak in
  • Informal
75 3.8

Surface Forms

break in infinitive
breaking in present participle
breaks in third person singular
broke in past
broken in past participle

Morphology

break + in

The meaning 'to forcefully enter by breaking a barrier' is directly and compositionally derived from 'break' (to damage or cause to separate) plus 'in' (into the interior); the particle adds the direction/result of entering. This verb+particle construction is a common, predictable pattern and a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the intended sense.

Etymology

The phrasal verb break in comes from the literal act of breaking a door or window to get inside someone else's home or building. That's why it means 'to enter illegally'.