housetrain

US/ˈhaʊsˌtɹeɪn/

verbC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

To housetrain is to teach an animal where it may relieve itself. Housetrain a puppy.

It works by reward and routine rather than punishment, which teaches only hiding. To housetrain a puppy takes about four months and one hundred trips to the garden.

Definitions of housetrain

1verbhousetrainTo teach an animal where it may relieve itself.C1
“It took a whole winter to housetrain that dog.”

housetrain is a training.

Where it comes from

House plus train; Americans say housebreak, which means the same thing.

From house + train.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Pets & Pet Care

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