break in
phrasal verbbreak in
- to enter a building by force
- Burglars had broken in while we were away.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
break somebody/something in
- to train somebody/something in something new that they must do
- to break in new recruits
- The young horse was not yet broken in (= trained to carry a rider).
- to wear something, especially new shoes, until they become comfortable
break in (on something)
- to interrupt something
- I longed to break in on their conversation but didn't want to appear rude.
- + speech ‘I didn't do it!’ she broke in.