housebreak
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Thanks to this bin they’ll be easy to find when I need to put down a dropcloth, light the charcoal grill or housebreak a puppy.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2022
He would in effect housebreak them, he suggested, checking their worst instincts.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2019
The task seems self-punishing, like trying to housebreak a chicken.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 15, 2019
“You’d have better luck trying to housebreak a hyena.”
From The Guardian ● Mar. 11, 2017
Mack intended to teach her tricks and go in vaudeville and he didn’t even housebreak her.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Douglas Daniel had 26 convictions - including for housebreaking and car theft - when he and his wife Barbara began fostering children in 1986.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
Produced on June 21, 2020, eight days after Mr. David’s arrest, the report said there was information indicating that he was involved in “a housebreaking and theft” at a farm belonging to Mr. Ramaphosa.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2022
Victoria Seaman, a Nevada assemblywoman and real estate agent who helped sponsor the new anti-squatter law, said Nevada is leading the nation in tough new housebreaking laws.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 30, 2016
It has a comprehensive list of guidelines—vaccine requirements, housebreaking rules, a strict “no biting” policy—but as long as those are followed, ORI allows a wide range of animals in the office.
From BusinessWeek ● Jun. 1, 2012
She was completely spoiled now and no one thought of housebreaking her.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
The dog is old and blind and has health problems that contribute to frequent accidents, but Dave also never really housebroke him and failed to mention this before moving in with me.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2020
“Just gotta get him housebroke, and then he’s going out West,” Steve said.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 26, 2016
Not to mention the fact that he isn’t housebroken, chews, bites like all puppies do, and we have a dog that goes absolutely insane around other dogs, getting very rough.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2022
Puppies are a ton of work, 24 hours a day, and there are loads of pleasant 1-year-old dogs who are already housebroken and leash-trained clogging our nation’s shelters.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2018
Brazelton told the Times that the idea that a child should be housebroken like a puppy was “very logical – for a puppy.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2018
I couldn’t have put it into words, but until that meeting, I had thought that I would recover with men and women like myself; which is to say, overeducated, fun to be with and housebroken.
From Salon ● Dec. 12, 2012
Anyone who’s ever had a cat that’s not housebroken can imagine the smells, other than pepper and thyme, that permeate this house.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
