burglarize

[bur-gluh-rahyz] /ˈbɜr gləˌraɪz/
verb (used with object), burglarized, burglarizing.
1.
to break into and steal from:
Thieves burglarized the warehouse.
verb (used without object), burglarized, burglarizing.
2.
to commit burglary.
Also, especially British, burglarise.
Origin
1870-75, Americanism; burglar + -ize
Related forms
unburglarized, adjective
Can be confused
burglarize, mug, rip off, rob, steal (see synonym study at rob)
Examples from the web for burglarize
  • The spies rent a house in order to burglarize each house in the neighborhood until they locate the car.
  • The witness believed that the suspects were about to burglarize the residence.
  • Police detectives believe these decorations may be a contributing factor in the selection of homes to burglarize.
  • Criminals can access your vehicle and use the remote entry to burglarize your house.
  • Upon arrival, once they determined that no one was in the residence, the boys agreed to burglarize it.
  • They also burglarize houses where people are known to have money and jewelry in the house.
  • He indicated that he had originally planned only to burglarize the house in order to find money to pay his truck note.
  • Dealers, or abusers themselves, who burglarize pharmacies.
British Dictionary definitions for burglarize

burglarize

/ˈbɜːɡləˌraɪz/
verb
1.
(transitive) (US & Canadian) to break into (a place) and steal from (someone); burgle
Word Origin and History for burglarize
v.

1865, American English, from burglary + -ize. Related: Burglarized; burglarizing.

We see in a telegraphic despatch from across the boundary line that a store was "burglarized" a short time ago. We are sorry that any thing so dreadful should have happened to any of our inventive cousins. Truly the American language is "fearfully and wonderfully made." ["Upper Canada Law Journal," September 1865, p.228]


Burglarize, to, a term creeping into journalism. "The Yankeeisms donated, collided, and burglarized have been badly used up by an English magazine writer." (Southern Magazine, April, 1871.) The word has a dangerous rival in the shorter burgle. [Maximilian Schele De Vere, "Americanisms; The English of the New World," 1872]