Meanings
break-in1
plural break-ins
- The act of entering a place with the intent to steal or commit some other offense; an instance of breaking and entering.
There was a break-in at the shop; everything was taken.
break-in2
plural break-ins
- attributiveoftenA novelty record where a question is asked or a comment is raised, and the replies are lyrics from other songs, sampled from the recordings.
Described by Ken Simpson as a ... novelty record where ‘snippets of current hits’ are inserted into ‘a little melodrama almost set up as a newscast’ (Simpson 2016), the first example of a break-in record that I am aware of is ... The Flying Saucer.
2021, Justin Morey, “UK Sampling Practice”, in Ewa Mazierska, editor, The Evolution of Electronic Dance Music, page 66
Synonyms & antonyms
nountrespassing for an unlawful purpose; illegal entrance into premises with criminal intent
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
break-in · noun
Coined by Bill Buchanan and Dickie Goodman to describe their then-new song The Flying Saucer, referring to how material from one song would break into their song.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian взлом
- взлом (vzlom)act of entering to commit an offense
Danish indbrud
- indbrudact of entering to commit an offense
Dutch inbraak
- inbraakact of entering to commit an offense
Finnish murtovarkaus
- murtovarkausact of entering to commit an offense
French effraction
- effractionact of entering to commit an offense
German Einbruch
- Einbruchact of entering to commit an offense
Greek διάρρηξη
- διάρρηξη (diárrixi)act of entering to commit an offense
Hungarian betörés
- betörésact of entering to commit an offense
Norwegian Bokmål innbrudd
- innbruddact of entering to commit an offense
Spanish efracción, allanamiento de morada
- efracciónact of entering to commit an offense
- allanamiento de moradaact of entering to commit an offense
Cite this entry
break-in. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break-in
“break-in.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break-in. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “break-in,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break-in.
Source: break-in on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.