Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Thief
Thief
(thēf)
, Noun.
pl.
Thieves
(thēvz)
. [OE.
thef
, theef
, AS. þeóf
; akin to OFries. thiaf
, OS. theof
, thiof
, D. dief
, G. dieb
, OHG. diob
, Icel. þjōfr
, Sw. tjuf
, Dan. tyv
, Goth. þiufs
, þiubs
, and perhaps to Lith. tupeti
to squat or crouch down. Cf. Theft
.] 1.
One who steals; one who commits theft or larceny. See
Theft
. There came a privy
thief
, men clepeth death. Chaucer.
Where
thieves
break through and steal. Matt. vi. 19.
2.
A waster in the snuff of a candle.
Bp. Hall.
Thief catcher
. Same as
– Thief taker
. Thief leader
, one who leads or takes away a thief.
L’Estrange.
– Thief taker
, one whose business is to find and capture thieves and bring them to justice.
– Thief tube
, a tube for withdrawing a sample of a liquid from a cask.
– Thieves' vinegar
, a kind of aromatic vinegar for the sick room, taking its name from the story that thieves, by using it, were enabled to plunder, with impunity to health, in the great plague at London.
[Eng.]
Syn. – Robber; pilferer.
–
Thief
, Robber
. A thief takes our property by stealth; a robber attacks us openly, and strips us by main force. Take heed, have open eye, for
thieves
do foot by night. Shakespeare
Some roving
robber
calling to his fellows. Milton.
Webster 1828 Edition
Thief
THIEF
,Noun.
plu.
1.
One who secretly, unlawfully and feloniously takes the goods or personal property of another. The thief takes the property of another privately; the robber by open force.2.
One who takes the property of another wrongfully, either secretly or by violence. Job.30.3.
One who seduces by false doctrine. John 10.4.
One who makes it his business to cheat and defraud; as a den of thieves. Matt. 21.5.
An excrescence in the snuff of a candle.Definition 2024
thief
thief
English
Noun
thief (plural thieves)
- One who carries out a theft.
- (obsolete) A waster in the snuff of a candle.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hall to this entry?)
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Hypernyms
- See Wikisaurus:criminal
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
one who carries out theft
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