burgling

verb

present participle of burgle
1
as in invading
to enter a house or building by force usually with illegal intent someone burgled the lab when no one was there and let the animals out of their cages

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in robbing
to remove valuables from (a place) unlawfully the neighbors returned from vacation to find that their house had been burgled

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for burgling
  1. invading
  2. robbing
Verb
  • In 1982, invading Israeli forces occupied the city, withdrawing three years later.
    — Jane Arraf, NPR, 1 Aug. 2026
  • And, on the other other hand, warmer winters could accelerate the northward spread of pine processionary caterpillars, which are already invading southern Germany.
    — Ben Crair, New Yorker, 31 July 2026
Definition of invading
Verb
  • Before that, he had been convicted assaulting someone at a Berlin high school in 2019, as well as robbing someone of a pair of headphones nearly a year later.
    — Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 26 July 2026
  • The families of two men who discovered through DNA tests that they were switched at birth 38 years ago are accusing a North Dakota hospital of robbing them of the lives they were supposed to lead.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 July 2026
Definition of robbing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

burgles
burgling
burgs
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Cite this Entry

“Burgling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/burgling. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on burgling

Nglish: Translation of burgling for Spanish Speakers

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