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Webster 1913 Edition

(pĕlf)

Noun.

[OE.

pelfir

booty, OF.

pelfre

, akin to

pelfrer

to plunder, and perh. to E.

pillage

. Cf.

Money; riches; lucre; gain; – generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten or worthless. It has no plural.

“Mucky pelf.”

Spenser.

“Paltry pelf.”

Burke.

Can their

pelf

prosper, not got by valor or industry?

Fuller.

Noun.

[probably allied to pilfer.] Money; riches; but it often conveys the idea of something ill gotten or worthless. It has no plural.