breaking in

Verb

break in (third-person singular simple present breaks in, present participle breaking in, simple past broke in, past participle broken in)

1. (intransitive) To enter a place by force or illicit means.
   • Someone broke in and stole his radio.
2. (transitive) To smash (something) by forcing it inward.
   • Break in the door. We are held up!1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados
3. (ambitransitive, ergative, idiomatic) To reach a state of functioning more smoothly through use or wear; to cause (something, or someone, new) to undergo this change.
   • These shoes will be more comfortable after they have broken in.

   Synonyms:

   run in, wear in

4. (idiomatic, transitive) Starting something brand new or at a new level.
   • He broke in with the New York Yankees.
5. (transitive) To tame; make obedient; to train to follow orders of the owner.
   • Captain had been broken in and trained for an army horse; his first owner was an officer of cavalry going out to the Crimean War. He said he quite enjoyed the training with all the other horses, trotting together, turning together, to the right hand or to the left, halting at the word of command...[1877], Anna Sewell, “An Old War Horse”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part III, page 162
6. (colloquial, transitive) To take the virginity of a girl, to deflower.
   • While brothel patrons placed their bets / On who would be the first to break her in2002, Allison Moorer, “Ruby Jewel Was Here”, in Miss Fortune

See all 8 meanings of break in