pilfer — pil·fer / pil fər/ vi: to steal esp. in small amounts and often again and again accused of pilfer ing from passenger luggage vt: to steal or steal from esp. in small quantities found pilfer ing goods from a store he was guarding pil·fer·age / pil … Law dictionary
pilfer — pil‧fer [ˈpɪlfə ǁ ər] verb [transitive] to steal small amounts of things, or things that are not worth much, especially from an office, factory etc: • An employee has been charged with pilfering a set of automobile wheels. pilfering noun… … Financial and business terms
pilfer — (v.) 1540s, from pilfer (n.), c.1400, from O.Fr. pelfre booty, spoils (11c.), of unknown origin, possibly related to PELF (Cf. pelf). Related: Pilfered; pilfering … Etymology dictionary
Pilfer — Pil fer, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Pilfered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Pilfering}.] [OF. pelfrer. See {Pelf}.] To steal in small quantities, or articles of small value; to practice petty theft. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Pilfer — Pil fer, v. t. To take by petty theft; to filch; to steal little by little. [1913 Webster] And not a year but pilfers as he goes Some youthful grace that age would gladly keep. Cowper. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
pilfer — *steal, filch, purloin, lift, pinch, snitch, swipe, cop Analogous words: seize, *take, grasp, grab, snatch: *catch, capture: *rob, rifle, loot, plunder … New Dictionary of Synonyms
pilfer — meaning ‘to steal (something trivial)’, has inflected forms pilfered, pilfering … Modern English usage
pilfer — [v] steal, embezzle annex, appropriate, borrow, cop*, crib*, filch*, liberate*, lift*, moonlight*, palm*, pinch*, pluck*, purloin, requisition, rip off*, rob, scrounge, snare, snatch, swipe, take, thieve, walk off with*; concepts 139,142,192 Ant … New thesaurus
pilfer — ► VERB ▪ steal (things of little value). DERIVATIVES pilferage noun. ORIGIN Old French pelfrer to pillage … English terms dictionary
pilfer — [pil′fər] vt., vi. [< MFr pelfrer < pelfre, booty] to steal (esp. small sums or petty objects); filch pilferer n … English World dictionary
pilfer — UK [ˈpɪlfə(r)] / US [ˈpɪlfər] verb [intransitive/transitive] Word forms pilfer : present tense I/you/we/they pilfer he/she/it pilfers present participle pilfering past tense pilfered past participle pilfered to steal things, especially from the… … English dictionary
