Definition of Theif
Thief (thēf), n.; 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. Shak.
Some roving robber calling to his
fellows. Milton.
Thief (thēf), n.; 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. Shak.
Some roving robber calling to his
fellows. Milton.
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
THIEF. You are a thief and a murderer, you have killed a
baboon and stole his face; vulgar abuse.
- The Devil's Dictionary (Ambrose Bierce)
- One who carries out theft; a robber; a pickpocket.
- The Nuttall Encyclopedia
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