pilfer
to steal, especially in small quantities.
Origin of pilfer
1Other words for pilfer
Other words from pilfer
- pil·fer·er, noun
- un·pil·fered, adjective
Words Nearby pilfer
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pilfer in a sentence
After hacking your way through a parade of low-level enemies, and past a mini-boss, you meet the large bird that pilfered the Demonic Forest Spirit’s soul.
En route, they have pilfered from grain stores, scoffed mountains of corn and pineapples, and caused over $1 million of damage as they amble slowly through farmland and villages.
China’s Wandering Elephants Have Charmed the World. But Steps Must Be Taken to Ensure Their Story Ends Happily | Charlie Campbell / Shanghai | July 14, 2021 | TimeI’ve made delicious shrubs with everything from early spring rhubarb to loquats pilfered from my parents’ backyard.
Homemade Shrubs Are Your Gateway to a World of Sweet, Tangy Summer Drinking | Aliza Abarbanel | July 8, 2021 | EaterAs a teenager, Kaestel stole to eat, then to get another tank of gas, and eventually to pay for everything he’d otherwise need to pilfer piecemeal.
He Robbed a Taco Joint With a Toy Water Gun for $264. He Got Life in Prison. | Kate Briquelet | May 31, 2021 | The Daily BeastIt makes sense that mole-rats would not only defend it, but try to pilfer this resource from others.
Naked mole-rats invade neighboring colonies and steal babies | Jake Buehler | October 20, 2020 | Science News
But Julius and his comrades continued to pilfer American secrets for years after the defeat of fascism.
Soviet-Era Secret Leakers Were Way Worse Than Snowden | Steve Usdin | August 7, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTTo pay a debt by means of a worthless cheque was evidently less reprehensible than to pilfer a brooch from a dressing-table.
Flaming June | Mrs. George de Horne VaizeyTo pilfer a supper, and then have it found in its natural state, after eating it—I confess that that is a most remarkable trick!
Brother Jacques (Novels of Paul de Kock, Volume XVII) | Charles Paul de KockLike the others of this family, they pilfer their food from the Gulls, and are also very destructive to young birds and eggs.
The Bird Book | Chester A. ReedThe movements of the red-haired girl were not those of one who sought to pilfer.
A Book of Ghosts | Sabine Baring-GouldWhen they had pilfer'd some from her, she was more cautious how she paraded with 'em for the future.
The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume III | Karl Ludwig von Pllnitz
British Dictionary definitions for pilfer
/ (ˈpɪlfə) /
to steal (minor items), esp in small quantities
Origin of pilfer
1Derived forms of pilfer
- pilferer, noun
- pilfering, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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