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pilfer

[ pil-fer ]

/ ˈpɪl fər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR pilfer ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with or without object)

to steal, especially in small quantities.

Origin of pilfer

1540–50; v. use of late Middle English pilfre booty < Middle French pelfre. See pelf

SYNONYMS FOR pilfer

thieve, purloin, filch, appropriate.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR pilfer ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM pilfer

pil·fer·er, noun un·pil·fered, adjective

Words nearby pilfer

piles, pileum, pileup, pileus, pilewort, pilfer, pilferage, pilgarlic, pilgrim, pilgrim bottle, pilgrim fathers

Example sentences from the Web for pilfered

But it is not the only Italian site that has been pilfered in recent months.

Pompeii Made It Through a Volcano, but Can It Survive Vandals? |Barbie Latza Nadeau |March 22, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Snowden pilfered documents from databases designed to share intelligence more broadly within the government.

Spy Chief James Clapper: We Can’t Stop Another Snowden |Eli Lake |February 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
An added sentence—possibly from an actual interview Goodall conducted with Aplin—followed by a pilfered (and truncated) one.

Jane Goodall’s Troubling, Error-Filled New Book, ‘Seeds of Hope’ |Michael Moynihan |March 26, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Is it about a book contract, or a pilfered appearance on CNBC?

Meltdown at FreedomWorks |David Frum |December 24, 2012 |DAILY BEAST

But when there he pilfered and plundered to so enormous an extent, that he was soon obliged to fly, to avoid being hanged.

Faustus |Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger
He was a lover of Clarisse Bocquet, and pilfered from her a large quantity of furniture given her by Duveyrier.

A Zola Dictionary |J. G. Patterson
As they passed the shops they now extended their hands and pilfered a prune, a few cherries, or a bit of cod.

The Fat and the Thin |Emile Zola
Listen to him, and there never was a man so traded on,—so robbed and pilfered from.

Tony Butler |Charles James Lever
Almost every where the houses of persons arrested were pilfered either by their own servants or the agents of the republic.

A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete |An English Lady

British Dictionary definitions for pilfered

pilfer

/ (ˈpɪlfə) /

verb

to steal (minor items), esp in small quantities

Derived forms of pilfer

pilferer, noun pilfering, noun

Word Origin for pilfer

C14 pylfre (n) from Old French pelfre booty; see pelf