| English Dictionary |
PILFER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Dictionary entry overview: What does pilfer mean?
• PILFER (verb)
The verb PILFER has 1 sense:
1. make off with belongings of others
Familiarity information: PILFER used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it pilfers Past simple: pilfered
Past participle: pilfered
-ing form: pilfering
Sense 1
Meaning:
Make off with belongings of others
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Synonyms:
abstract; cabbage; filch; hook; lift; nobble; pilfer; pinch; purloin; snarf; sneak; swipe
Hypernyms (to "pilfer" is one way to...):
rip; rip off; steal (take without the owner's consent)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody
Sentence example:
They pilfer the goods
Derivation:
pilferage (the act of stealing small amounts or small articles)
pilferer (a thief who steals without using violence)
Context examples
Pilfering was housebreaking to Mr. Woodhouse's fears.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
It was nothing less than robbery, he concluded—a cold-blooded steal; while he starved, he was pilfered of his merchandise, of his goods, the sale of which was the sole way of getting bread to eat.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"The more you know, the less you need." (Aboriginal Australian proverbs)
"The stingy has a big porch and little morality." (Arabic proverb)
"If someone isn't handsome by nature, it's useless for them to wash over and over again." (Corsican proverb)