break in
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
break in• Thieves broke into the gallery and made off with paintings valued at over $2 million.• "Sam, what on earth are you talking about?' she broke in at last.• Elaine took a six-month break in her studies.• 'That's enough, ' the guard broke in impatiently. 'Hurry up and say goodbye.'• The tutor finally broke in on Sam's monologue, much to the relief of the rest of the class.• If anyone tries to break in, the alarm will go off.• Occasionally you could see the moon through a break in the clouds.• There was an awkward break in the conversation.break with• I broke in with sketches for Dave Allen and Frankie Howerd.• TV news anchors periodically broke in with updates on the incident.ˈbreak-in noun [countable] SCCSTEALan act of entering a building illegally and by force, especially in order to steal things 非法闯入；〔尤指〕入室行窃 Since the break-in we’ve had all our locks changed. 自从发生入室盗窃案后，我们更换了所有的锁。 → break in at break1Examples from the Corpus
break-in• And Channing says there was no obvious evidence of a break-in.• There was a break-in at the college last night -- they took all the computers.• The local police were informed of the whereabouts of the statues, just in case anyone mistakenly reported an attempted break-in.• This is the second computer break-in at a major technology company that has been publicized in recent months.• Sure enough, a guy showed up at Zia on the day of the break-in with a stack of the stolen goods.• At least there was little evidence remaining of the break-in.• Until the break-in, he had planned to use it that summer on a cross-country bicycle trip.• The break-in occurred between midnight and six in the morning.ˈbreak-in nounChineseSyllable
illegally Corpus building a act of entering and an
break in
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++break in → break in at break1(PHRASAL VERB)
break in
break in phrasal verb (see also break)
1. to enter a building by using force, in order to steal something:
Thieves broke in and stole £10,000 worth of computer equipment. ⇨ break-in
2. to interrupt someone when they are speaking
break in on
I didn’t want to break in on his telephone conversation.
break in with
Dad would occasionally break in with an amusing comment.
3. break something ↔ in to make new shoes or boots less stiff and more comfortable by wearing them:
I went for a walk to break in my new boots.
4. break somebody in to help a person get used to a certain way of behaving or working:
She’s quite new to the job, so we’re still breaking her in.
5. break something ↔ in to teach a young horse to carry people on its back:
We break the horses in when they’re about two years old.
break in phrasal verb (see also break)
1. to enter a building by using force, in order to steal something:
2. to interrupt someone when they are speaking
break in on
break in with
3. break something ↔ in to make new shoes or boots less stiff and more comfortable by wearing them:
4. break somebody in to help a person get used to a certain way of behaving or working:
5. break something ↔ in to teach a young horse to carry people on its back: