verb
- Enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act.
- usage: "Someone broke in while I was on vacation"; "They broke into my car and stole my radio"; "who broke into my account last night"
- Break into a conversation.
- usage: "her husband always chimes in, even when he is not involved in the conversation"
- Start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role.
- synonyms: break in
- Intrude on uninvited.
- usage: "The nosy couple broke in on our conversation"
- synonyms: break in
- Break so as to fall inward.
- usage: "He broke in the door"
- synonyms: break in
- Make submissive, obedient, or useful.
- usage: "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"
adjective
- Tamed or trained to obey.
- usage: "a horse broken to the saddle"; "this old nag is well broken in"
- synonyms: broken
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). broken in. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/broken_in/definitions/1169861 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "broken in" http://smartdefine.org/broken_in/definitions/1169861 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, broken in, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/broken_in/definitions/1169861>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "broken in" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/broken_in/definitions/1169861> |