housebreaker

From house +‎ breaker.

housebreaker (plural housebreakers)

1. A criminal who breaks into and enters another's house or premises with the intent of committing a crime.

   Synonym: (slang) drummer [Britain]

   Alternative forms: house breaker, house-breaker

   • 1869 May, Anthony Trollope, “Miss Stanbury’s Generosity”, in He Knew He Was Right, volume I, London: Strahan and Company, […], →OCLC, page 93:

     [H]e is dressed in such a rapscallion manner that the people would think you were talking to a house-breaker.

   • 1968 November 19, “‘Infuriated’ vicar's wife routs interloper”, in Montreal Gazette, Canada, retrieved 21 September 2010, page 9:

     The vicar seized a sword and routed the housebreaker, but it was the vicar's wife in a nightgown and coat who caught up with the fleeing intruder, slapped his face and held him by the neck.

   • 2009 May 20, "Serial housebreaker nabbed," AsiaOne (Singapore) (retrieved 21 Sep 2010):

     A serial housebreaker who is believed to have stolen from several homes in Ang Mo Kio last month was nabbed on Tuesday.

• burglar