(v. i.) To steal in small quantities, or articles of small value; to practice petty theft.
(v. t.) To take by petty theft; to filch; to steal little by little.
Example Sentences:
(1) I first had stuffed vine leaves at my grandad's guesthouse in Southend, and deeply regret not pilfering his recipe before he passed away.
(2) Bavarian public gardens are regularly pilfered for their hydrangea flowers.
(3) Harry Kane’s third goal in four caps was crisply pilfered 10 minutes into his cameo.
(4) BITS AND BOBS A Colombian teacher has been accused of pilfering stickers from pupils to complete his own Panini World Cup album.
(5) Among the things she pilfered were a pair of white trainers belonging to Kelly.
(6) Once on a system, it would detect when a user was visiting a banking website, create fake login sections of that site and then pilfer banking logins.
(7) Gyles commission into productivity in the building industry in New South Wales In 1992 Roger Gyles QC described illegal activities in the NSW building industry, ranging from physical violence and a threat of physical violence at one end to petty pilfering of building materials at the other.
(8) Habré escaped, eventually to Senegal , with some $12m pilfered from national bank accounts, which he reportedly put towards the purchase of two mansions and, it is widely believed, enough Senegalese newspaper editors, police officials, religious leaders and politicians to keep the heat off for years to come.
(9) The significant weapons stockpiles, largely unguarded and unwatched, from which arms could easily be pilfered, provide the temptations of war for anyone who may see Gaddafi's overthrow as an opportunity to advance their agendas in non-democratic ways.
(10) The equaliser was pilfered on the break, Adebayor sending Roberto Soldado scurrying down the left, where he collected and conjured a glorious centre, which arced into the six-yard box for the Togolese to exploit space between Jos Hooiveld and Fox and volley home.
(11) There were "small incidents" with Roma accused of pilfering firewood or vegetables and other petty crime, but only 12 "petty larcenies" were reported to police during the first four months of 2011.
(12) Paglia accuses Gaga of stealing from Madonna, but Madge pilfered sounds and imagery from everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Daft Punk .
(13) Last week's episode of Midsomer Murders featured a grasping son and daughter pilfering money from their mother and bumping off their stepfather to disguise the crime.
(14) But there are also distinctions in the lower classes: the tension between the country servants, who feel part of a centuries-old tradition of duty, and the town servants, who see the ruling class as opponents to outwit in small victories of pilfering.
(15) Belgian monks hide their altarpieces, a swastika flag flutters in front of the Eiffel Tower, and Adolf Hitler is pilfering art from all over Europe to build a collection for his planned Führermuseum .
(16) A couple of weeks ago they were on the receiving end of an injustice here when Tottenham Hotspur pilfered a late winner.
(17) "Luxembourg is like the club member who enjoys all the benefits of membership while quietly pilfering from the kitty" Richard Brooks “It might be an underhand way to run a tax system, but it serves Luxembourg well.
(18) The granaries were pilfered with no account of why the stores were empty.
(19) It's ubiquitous at our tables, with dishes pilfered from all corners of the world – from creamy risottos to perfumed pilafs and paellas, sushi rolls and kedgeree – not to mention all manner of polystyrene-like crackers, cereals and "cakes".
(20) They allege that his holdings, including a luxurious seven-storey townhouse on one of Paris's most expensive streets and several dozen others apartments, must have been amassed by pilfering Syrian public funds and abusing power.
Thieve
Definition:
(v. t. & i.) To practice theft; to steal.
Example Sentences:
(1) He shrugs his shoulders and laughs: "And they call us thieves!"
(2) Extensive research among the Afghan National Army – 68 focus groups – and US military personnel alike concluded: "One group sees the other as a bunch of violent, reckless, intrusive, arrogant, self-serving profane, infidel bullies hiding behind high technology; and the other group [the US soldiers] generally views the former as a bunch of cowardly, incompetent, obtuse, thieving, complacent, lazy, pot-smoking, treacherous, and murderous radicals.
(3) Protected by a rusty padlocked gate, Macrinus's tomb was targeted by thieves after it was first excavated in 2008.
(4) Rising numbers of consumers are finding they are subject to thieves who tamper with their gas and electricity meters to redirect some of their supply.
(5) My suspicion is there was something [the thieves] were specifically after, otherwise why would they have taken some and left others?” The stolen goods would range from family heirlooms, personal jewellery and dealers’ stock, he said.
(6) Capitalism has brought job insecurity and economic instability, and given power to those who are good at thieving.
(7) The agreement that the International Atomic Energy Agency reached with Iran is a pact among thieves.
(8) In Thursday's robbery the thieves all fled the scene within minutes.
(9) It was like a bomb went off in the room.” Arrest the thieves and embezzlers who are plundering Iraq | Letters Read more Abadi has placed much of his political stock on his reform drive, which he sees as essential to holding the country together.
(10) US officers in Daytona Beach in 2010 were able to prevent a car burglary after one of the thieves "butt-dialed" the police halfway through the crime.
(11) They were soon able to verify their authenticity and, retracing the paintings' steps, they decided that the works in all probability were taken by the thieves by train from Paris to Turin, but were abandoned on board, possibly during border checks.
(12) Within hours of their death, Egyptian authorities accused them of being part of a gang of thieves that targeted foreigners, and an alleged house raid linked them to a heinous act : the torture and murder of an Italian researcher named Giulio Regeni .
(13) The activity of burglars more often then the thieves' one goes over into the night.
(14) "Did you expect something different from these crooks and thieves?
(15) Surely, she of all people doesn’t need to be told what happened to the Labour party in Scotland when, during the independence referendum, it fell among thieves and started spending too much time with social delinquents?
(16) There was fine work from the Dardenne brothers – their Le Gamin au Vélo was a modern reworking of Oliver Twist and Bicycle Thieves .
(17) Football also evolves, just as the world, cars, computers do, so you have to keep evolving and immersing yourself in those changes.” It was telling that in April, when thieves broke into his parked car and stole various personal belongings, not only did he lose a contacts book with 20 years’ worth of professional associates, but also an iPad containing a draft of the football book he is working on.
(18) They exhibited no wider cause or motivation beyond miserable thieving.
(19) Tesco Bank cyber-thieves stole £2.5m from 9,000 people Read more Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said the discounters were being hit as they were now up against very strong rates of growth a year ago, while Tesco’s resurgence had made life more difficult.
(20) In her day this was a gritty neighbourhood and it hasn’t changed much, with a shabby market by the metro station and blocks of peeling townhouses; this is the real, old Paris, the world she sang about, with its desperate cast of thieves and tramps and lovers.