thief
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: thēf
ipa: /θiːf/
ipa: /θif/
rhymes: -iːf
Forms: form: thieves
form: theef
Etymology: From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz.
Senses: examples: text: water-thieves and land-thieves
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
glosses: One who carries out a theft.
examples: text: Take heed to false harlots, and more, ye wot what. / If noise ye heare, / Looke all be cleare: / Least drabs doe noie thee, / And theeues destroie thee.
ref: 1878, Thomas Tusser, “74. A Digression.”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as W[illiam] Payne, Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, →OCLC, stanza 4, page 166:
glosses: One who steals another person's property, especially by stealth and without using force or violence.
examples: text: But hear you, my Worthy Brethren: do not you, where you see a thief in the candle, call presently for an extinguisher[…]
ref: 1640, Joseph Hall, Divine Light:
glosses: A waster in the snuff of a candle.
Synonyms: word: abstractor
word: appropriator
word: bagger
word: booster
word: borrower
word: cribber
word: faker
word: filcher
word: flogger
word: heister
word: larcener
word: larcenist
word: liberator
word: lifter
word: misappropriator
word: nicker
word: pincher
word: purloiner
word: snitch
word: stealer
word: tea leaf
word: thief
word: thiever
Hypernyms: sense: one who carries out a theft
word: criminal
word: grabber
word: possessor
word: seizer
word: taker
word: villain
Hyponyms: word: burglar
word: cat burglar
word: mugger
word: pickpocket
word: robber
word: bandit
word: brigand
word: cutpurse
word: confidence trickster
word: converter
word: dacoit
word: dragsman
word: fraudster
word: highwayman
word: kleptomaniac
word: looter
word: pirate
word: plunderer
word: poacher
word: porch pirate
word: rustler
word: snagger
word: snatcher
word: sneak thief
word: swiper
word: People
word: abductor
word: kidnapper
word: Words & ideas
word: plagiarist
word: Vehicles
word: carjacker
word: hijacker
word: jacker
word: twocker
word: Safes
word: cracksman
word: safebreaker
word: safecracker
word: Embezzlers
word: embezzler
word: peculator
word: Petty thieves
word: prig
word: sheep-biter
word: shoplifter
word: sticky fingers
word: With violence
word: bank robber
word: ravisher
word: With a pole
word: angler
word: hooker
word: nuthook
Derived terms: a fair booty makes many a thief
comparison is the thief of joy
horse thief
joke thief
joule thief
liquor thief
opportunity makes a thief
opportunity makes the thief
oxygen thief
palm thief
panel thief
police and thief
procrastination is the thief of time
sampling thief
set a thief to catch a thief
sneak thief
stop thief
thick as thieves
thief ant
thiefdom
thief in law
thief in the night
thief knot
thieflike
thiefly
thief palm
thief-taker
thief tube
thievish
time thief
wage thief
water-thief
wheat thief
wine thief
Related terms: word: thieve
word: deceiver
word: steal
word: theft