1
as in invading
to enter a house or building by force usually with illegal intent
the burglars broke in by smashing a window
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2
as in interrupting
to cause a disruption in a conversation or discussion
he rudely broke in to drop the names of several celebrities that he had met
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of breaking in
The Italian was the first to shake up the scoreboard, breaking in the fifth and then holding serve for a 4-2 lead.
—
Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2025
Pushing and carrying and pulling heavy weights taught me to get comfortable with breaking in order to become stronger, more resilient.
—Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2025
At left guard and left tackle, the offense is breaking in a second-year player who’s a former tackle and a rookie in San Diego’s Josh Simmons, who last played a regular-season game in October.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2025
And also, at the exact same moment, your heart is breaking in half because one day, lots of days, actually, your child is going to go out and enjoy that absolutely beautiful, mind-blowing, magical world.
—Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025
Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2025
Pushing and carrying and pulling heavy weights taught me to get comfortable with breaking in order to become stronger, more resilient.
—Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2025
At left guard and left tackle, the offense is breaking in a second-year player who’s a former tackle and a rookie in San Diego’s Josh Simmons, who last played a regular-season game in October.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2025
And also, at the exact same moment, your heart is breaking in half because one day, lots of days, actually, your child is going to go out and enjoy that absolutely beautiful, mind-blowing, magical world.
—Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaking in
Verb
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According to Jeffrey Gottfurcht, co-founder and CEO of Cyber Dive, a software company that enables parents to monitor their child's phone habits and history, parents shouldn't be concerned about invading their child's privacy.—
Erick Trevino,
AZCentral.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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Sustainable peace requires genuine, enforceable guarantees that clearly deter Putin from ever invading Ukraine again.—
Oleksandra Matviichuk,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Truist analyst Youssef Squali, for one, on Monday reiterated his buy rating on Alphabet under the belief that the company is still winning in search, despite doubts about AI interrupting users' search engine behaviors.—
Pia Singh,
CNBC,
24 Sep. 2025
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Homoya yelled to a couple of birders in the group, interrupting himself in a conversation.—
Karl Schneider,
IndyStar,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Refusing to engage with it means robbing yourself of the experience, like walking into a museum eyes closed rather than appreciating any of the paintings.—
Alyssa Mercante,
Rolling Stone,
25 Sep. 2025
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One of the shooting deaths included in ADL’s data involved the suspect robbing a fast-food restaurant and then stealing a getaway vehicle.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Breaking in.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaking%20in. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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