transitive verb
-·broke·, -·bro·ken, -·break·ing to cause to be housebroken
Origin of housebreak
back-formation from housebrokenhousebreak
house·breakWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"housebreak." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/housebreak>.
APA Style
housebreak. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/housebreak
housebreak
transitive verb
house·broke, house·bro·ken, house·break·ing, house·breaks- To train (a dog) to urinate and defecate outdoors and not indoors.
- To subdue; tame: “Who better to domesticate him than the most genteel woman in the world? What better to housebreak him than the dinner parties for his friends?” ( Philip Roth )
noun
The breaking and entering or burglary of a dwelling.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"housebreak." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/housebreak>.
APA Style
housebreak. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/housebreak
Verb
(third-person singular simple present housebreaks, present participle housebreaking, simple past housebroke, past participle housebroken)
- To train an animal to avoid urinating or defecating in the house, except within a litterbox, toilet, or other receptacle.
Origin
Back-formed from housebroken.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"housebreak." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/housebreak>.
APA Style
housebreak. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/housebreak
