filch
Americanverb (used with object)
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filches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
filched,
past participle, past
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filching
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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filchsimple
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filchessimple
-
have filchedperfect
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has filchedperfect
-
am filchingprogressive
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are filchingprogressive
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is filchingprogressive
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have been filchingperfect progressive
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has been filchingperfect progressive
Past
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filchedsimple
-
had filchedperfect
-
was filchingprogressive
-
were filchingprogressive
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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
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Othello
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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:
He would filch it if I wasn’t around.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2020
One piece they failed to filch, however, was the Dresden Green, an elaborate diamond hat pin crafted around an extremely rare, almond-shaped celadon-green diamond.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 9, 2020
Forays like these increasingly vex trade hawks in America, who fear that China will filch its cutting-edge technology.
From Economist ● Jul. 5, 2018
The window of opportunity is rapidly closing on them: Every new story idea the duo comes up with is already claimed by Shakespeare, a shameless plagiarist always eager to filch an idea from Nigel's notebook.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 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
By contrast, Fairey simply filches artworks and hopes that no one notices — the joke is on you.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2012
She snorts when she laughs, filches food from the pantry, just because she can, and runs free through the bar-infested woods.
From Time ● Jun. 21, 2012
To Othello he said, "Who steals my purse steals trash, but he who filches from me my good name ruins me."
From Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by E. (Edith) Nesbit
Philharmonic to cellist Peter Stumpf after it had been filched from the front porch of his Los Feliz home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2020
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
She filched one anyway, and ate it on her way out.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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
She tackles him after he is caught filching some grub, prompting my favorite admonishment of the episode, and maybe the entire series thus far.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2015
The 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. 19, 2013
I can’t tell you how hurt and sorry I felt to-night when I believed you to be mixed up with that contemptible bit of filching.
From Brownsmith's Boy A Romance in a Garden by George Manville Fenn
Definitions 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.
