filch
Americanverb (used with object)
-
filches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
filched,
past participle, past
-
filching
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
filchsimple
-
filchessimple
-
have filchedperfect
-
has filchedperfect
-
am filchingprogressive
-
are filchingprogressive
-
is filchingprogressive
-
have been filchingperfect progressive
-
has been filchingperfect progressive
Past
-
filchedsimple
-
had filchedperfect
-
was filchingprogressive
-
were filchingprogressive
-
had been filchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of filch
1250–1300; Middle English filchen to attack (in a body), take as booty, Old English fylcian to marshal (troops), draw (soldiers) up in battle array, derivative of gefylce band of men; akin to folk
Explanation
You can filch money, time, and stuff, but I wouldn't recommend it. Filching is stealing, as in "You filched my cookies!" Doesn't filch just sound kind of dirty? That could be because it's one letter away from filth, but it's also true that stealing is usually considered a dirty, lowdown deed. No one wants their things to be filched. Filching is similar to pilfering, swiping, lifting, and purloining — other words for taking what isn't yours. We've all probably filched at some point, but thieves make a profession out of filching.
Vocabulary lists containing filch
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Othello
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The web of their lives “is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together,” to filch from Shakespeare, and Venable combines virtues and vices in unexpected patterns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
He would filch it if I wasn’t around.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2020
The 14-count indictment, unsealed Tuesday, alleges Xiaoqing Zheng of Niskayuna, N.Y., and Zhaoxi Zhang of China’s Liaoning province teamed up to filch millions of dollars’ worth of General Electric’s aviation trade secrets.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 23, 2019
It’s a line that Mr. Malkovich might easily filch to excuse his participation in this execrable remarriage comedy, one that’s mystifyingly seeded with acting heavyweights.
From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2017
“Shipwrecks and cannibals. Does that ring any bells, Miss Lumley? I know you filch books from my library sometimes; don’t deny it.”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
In his ruling, he quoted “Othello”: “He that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed.”
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 4, 2016
I sidle over to spoon my husband’s cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup with lemon verbena and shellfish; he filches confit.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 12, 2015
Gunn not only filches from the trove, he graciously acknowledges the theft.
From Time ● Aug. 1, 2014
By contrast, Fairey simply filches artworks and hopes that no one notices — the joke is on you.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2012
"And that not one in ten thousand can refer to the particular treasury he filches."
From The Egoist by George Meredith
To permit the filched territory and motor to keep continuous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2021
To balance the state’s budget, the Legislature has filched all it can from cities and towns over the years.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 19, 2019
When not kitted out in her Captain Marvel suit—much less revealing than Gadot’s Wonder Woman getup—she spends much of the film in a baggy Nine Inch Nails T-shirt filched from a store mannequin.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2019
They have filched trade secrets related to semiconductors and jet engines and aircraft carriers.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 11, 2018
I saw the faces of men who were not there and of children from whom the life had been filched, and yet it was black night, blacker than black since the stars were hidden.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Sandwich spirals — also known as pinwheels — remind us of our parents filching some leftovers from "grown up" game day or office parties for us to enjoy when we got home.
From Fox News ● Dec. 13, 2021
A confrontation also would be embarrassing – like having to tell a coworker that you suspected them of doing something unsavory, like filching your pens.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2020
As unemployment rates nationwide have sunk to record lows, filching workers — from kitchens and construction sites, warehouses and Walmarts, truck cabs and nursing homes — has become routine.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 2019
The Tribune reported that Taylor was filching every form of public assistance imaginable: Social Security, food stamps, Medicaid, and Aid to Families With Dependent Children.
From Slate ● Dec. 31, 2017
Thou hast a knave within thy house—Hodge, a servant of thine; They tell me that busy knave is such a filching one, That hen, pig, goose or capon, thy neighbour can have none.
From Gammer Gurton's Needle by Mr. S. Mr. of Art
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
