burglar

plural burglars

1. A person who breaks in to premises with the intent of committing a crime, usually theft.

   The burglar made off with a large diamond from the museum.

   3 more examples

   In the village itself his lionheartedness had been a legend ever since he had brained a burglar with a number seven iron, and the jury in Guildford had, despite the clear direction of the judge, resolutely declined to convict him for the use of unnecessary force.

   2010, Louis De Bernières, Notwithstanding, →ISBN, page 82

   There’s good reason to worry. In an earlier memoir, “Five-Finger Discount,” Stapinski recreated the terrifying world of swindlers, embezzlers, burglars and mobster wannabes who made up her extended Jersey City family.

   2017 June 23, Max Byrd, “A Trip to Southern Italy to Shed Light on a Family Scandal”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 25 Jun 2017

   Corona, who carries a pistol filled not with bullets but with tequila and drives around in his pickup truck that says “Porder Batrol” on the side, says he was playing pickleball at the time, which allowed the burglar free rein to the territory.

   2025 February 1, Noah Goldberg, “He runs a desert micro-nation by the Salton Sea. Population Zero.”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2025

   Synonyms: burglarizer, housebreaker, cracksman, drawlatch, sneck lifter

present singular third person burglars · participle present burglaring · participle past burglared · past burglared

1. ambitransitiveTo commit burglary.

   The latter, with another constable, remained to watch the burglared premises both back and front, […]

   1901, Emma Orczy, The Robbery in Phillimore Terrace