burglary
noun
Simple meaning
The crime of unlawfully breaking into a vehicle, house, store, or other enclosure with the intent to steal.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
burglereeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɝɡlɚi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The crime of unlawfully breaking into a vehicle, house, store, or other enclosure with the intent to steal.
lawus
Under the Model Penal Code, entering a building or occupied structure with purpose to commit a crime therein, unless the premises are at the time open to the public or the actor is licensed or privileged to enter.
law
Entering a building unlawfully with intent to commit a felony or to steal valuable property
law
Under the common law, breaking and entering of the dwelling of another at night with the intent to commit a felony.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- theftnoun
- stealingnoun
- burglarnoun
- felonynoun
- misdemeanornoun
- kidnappingnoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.