theft

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theft

the act of stealing; unlawfully taking and carrying away the property of another; larceny

Not to be confused with:

burglary – breaking and entering a building with intent to steal

robbery – taking the property of a person in his or her presence by violence or intimidation

plunder – to rob by open force, as in war; to take wrongfully as by pillage or fraud

theft

(thĕft)

a. The unlawful taking of the property of another; larceny: the prevention of theft.

b. An instance of such taking: several car thefts.

2. Obsolete Something stolen.

[Middle English, from Old English thīefth.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

theft

(θɛft)

1. (Law) criminal law the dishonest taking of property belonging to another person with the intention of depriving the owner permanently of its possession

2. rare something stolen

[Old English thēofth; related to Old Norse thӯfth, Old Frisian thiūvethe, Middle Dutch düfte; see thief]

ˈtheftless adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

theft

(θɛft)

n.

1. the act of stealing; larceny.

2. an instance of this.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English thēfth, thēofth; see thief, -th¹]

Theft

See also crime.

abaction

the stealing of whole herds of cattle, as contrasted with a few head. — abactor, n.

asportation

unlawful removal of goods from where they are deposited or stored.

banditry

the practice of being a bandit.

bibliokleptomania

1. a kleptomania specializing in books.
2. the motivations of a biblioklept. — bibliokleptomaniac, n.

brigandism

the practice of pillage, often destructive, usually practiced by a band of robbers. Also brigandage. — brigand, n. — brigandish, adj.

dacoity

murder and robbery committed by dacoits, a class of criminals in India and Burma.

despoliation

a despoiling; an act of robbery on a large scale; pillage.

direption

Obsolete, pillage; the act of plundering.

embezzlement

the misappropriation of funds that have been entrusted to one for care or management. Also called peculation. — embezzler, n.

excoriation

Obsolete, the act of stripping of possessions wrongfully and by force; spoliation or robbery.

harpaxophobia

an abnormal fear of robbers.

kleptomania, cleptomania

Psychology. an irresistible impulse to steal, especially when the thief can afford to pay. — kleptomaniac, n.

kleptophobia, cleptophobia

an abnormal fear of thieves or of loss through thievery.

ladronism

1. SW. U.S. an act of thievery.
2. Scots Dialect, blackguardism and roguery. — ladrone, ladron, n.

peculation

embezzlement. — peculator, n.

pilferage

1. petty stealing or pilfering.
2. the articles stolen in pilfering.

pillage

1. the act of plundering or large scale robbery, usually accompanied by violence as in wartime.
2. plundered property; booty.

piracy

the act of robbery on the high seas. See also ships. — pirate, n. — piratic, piratical, adj.

plagiarism

1. the verbatim copying or imitation of the language, ideas, or thoughts of another author and representing them as one’s own original work.
2. the material so appropriated. Also plagiary. — plagiarist, n. — plagiaristic, adj.

predation

the act or process of pillaging or plundering.

rapacity

the state or quality of being excessively greedy or given to theft. — rapacious, adj.

rapine

the act of pillage or plundering.

spoliation

the process of robbing or plundering, especially in time of war and on a large scale. See also church; ships.

thievery

1. the act or practice of stealing or thieving.
2. Rare. the property stolen.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

theft - the act of taking something from someone unlawfully; "the thieving is awful at Kennedy International"

larceny, stealing, thievery, thieving

breach of trust with fraudulent intent - larceny after trust rather than after unlawful taking

felony - a serious crime (such as murder or arson)

embezzlement, misappropriation, peculation, misapplication, defalcation - the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else

pilferage - the act of stealing small amounts or small articles

shoplifting, shrinkage - the act of stealing goods that are on display in a store; "shrinkage is the retail trade's euphemism for shoplifting"

robbery - larceny by threat of violence

biopiracy - biological theft; illegal collection of indigenous plants by corporations who patent them for their own use

grand larceny, grand theft - larceny of property having a value greater than some amount (the amount varies by locale)

petit larceny, petty, petty larceny - larceny of property having a value less than some amount (the amount varies by locale)

skimming - failure to declare income in order to avoid paying taxes on it

rustling - the stealing of cattle

theft

noun stealing, robbery, thieving, fraud, rip-off (slang), swindling, embezzlement, pilfering, larceny, purloining, thievery Art theft is now part of organized crime.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

theft

noun

The crime of taking someone else's property without consent:

larceny, pilferage, steal, thievery.

Slang: rip-off.

Translations

سَرِقَةلُصوصِيَّه، سَرِقَه

krádež

tyveri

varkaus

krađa

lopás

òjófnaîur

furto

盗み

도둑질

vagystė

zādzība

krádež

kraja

stöld

การขโมย

hırsızlık

sự ăn trộm

盗窃

theft

[θeft] N (gen) → robo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

theft

[ˈθɛft] n (= crime) → vol m (larcin)

theft

n → Diebstahl m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

theft

[θɛft] n → furto

theft

(θeft) noun

(an act of) stealing. He was jailed for theft.

theft

→ سَرِقَة krádež tyveri Diebstahl κλοπή robo varkaus vol krađa furto 盗み 도둑질 diefstal tyveri kradzież roubo кража stöld การขโมย hırsızlık sự ăn trộm 盗窃

I want to report a theft → Chci nahlásit krádež → Jeg vil gerne melde et tyveri → Ich möchte einen Diebstahl melden → Quiero denunciar un robo → Je viens signaler un vol → Želim prijaviti krađu → Vorrei denunciare un furto → 도난 신고를 하고 싶어요 → Ik wil een diefstal aangeven → Jeg vil anmelde et tyveri → Chcę zgłosić kradzież → Eu quero reportar um roubo → Jag vill göra en stöldanmälan → Tôi muốn báo mất trộm → 我要报告一个盗窃案

References in classic literature ?

This would have made the theft much more difficult than Mynheer Isaac had at first expected.

View in context

A WOLF accused a Fox of theft, but the Fox entirely denied the charge.

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He was excellent above all men in theft and perjury.

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"And I answer," retorted the impenetrable lawyer, "that the suspicion of theft rests on your Ladyship's adopted daughter, and on nobody else."

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For gif adultery, sacrilege, oppression, barbarous cruelty, and theft heaped upon theft, deserve hell, the great King of Carrick can no more escape hell for ever, than the imprudent Abbot escaped the fire for a season as follows.

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His work included the adjudgment of the arms of Achilles to Odysseus, the madness of Aias, the bringing of Philoctetes from Lemnos and his cure, the coming to the war of Neoptolemus who slays Eurypylus, son of Telephus, the making of the wooden horse, the spying of Odysseus and his theft, along with Diomedes, of the Palladium: the analysis concludes with the admission of the wooden horse into Troy by the Trojans.

View in context

Or is there a pleasure in being accessory to a theft when we cannot commit it ourselves?

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The theft of the Flibberty-Gibbet was merely amusing, though the means by which the theft had been effected gave him hurt.

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The theft raid which he had made upon the village turned out better than he had ventured to hope.

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"Breaking into the principal" was, in the minds of most thrifty New England women, a sin only second to arson, theft, or murder; and, though the rule was occasionally carried too far for common sense,--as in this case, where two elderly women of sixty might reasonably have drawn something from their little hoard in time of special need,--it doubtless wrought more of good than evil in the community.

View in context

We see the thief preaching against theft, and the adulterer against adultery.

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That the hair was her own, she instantaneously felt as well satisfied as Marianne; the only difference in their conclusions was, that what Marianne considered as a free gift from her sister, Elinor was conscious must have been procured by some theft or contrivance unknown to herself.