heist

[hahyst]

noun

1. a robbery or holdup.

   Four men were involved in the armored car heist.

verb (used with object)

1. to take unlawfully, especially in a robbery or holdup; steal.

   to heist a million dollars' worth of jewels.

2. to rob or hold up.

heist

/ haɪst /

noun

1. a robbery

verb

1. (tr) to steal or burgle

Other Word Forms

• heister noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of heist¹

1925–30, alteration of hoist

Word History and Origins

Origin of heist¹

variant of _hoist

Example Sentences

When Little-Siebold brought some of that tree’s apples to display at Maine’s Common Ground Country Fair in September, he caught a visitor attempting a fruit heist.

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There I was, dribbling basketballs like a Globetrotter, diving through inter-dimensional portals, riding on the back of a galloping dinosaur in an explosive train heist.

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Universal substantially increased the budget and abandoned underground racing for an “Ocean’s 11”-style heist that climaxed with a car racing through Rio de Janeiro while dragging a bank vault.

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A store manager for Heller Jewelry declined to comment on the heists.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The brazen daylight heist, which was caught on video, prompted an angry response from lawmakers, public safety advocates and Vietnamese community leaders who called for increased law enforcement resources to combat organized crime rings.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abduct 
• divert 
• loot 
• pilfer 
• plunder 
• ransack 
• remove 
• swipe 
• take