heist
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
to take unlawfully, especially in a robbery or holdup; steal.
to heist a million dollars' worth of jewels.
-
to rob or hold up.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heist
1925–30, alteration of hoist
Explanation
When a man with a gun walks into a bank and says, "Give me all your money," that's a heist or a robbery at gunpoint. Heist, pronounced "hīst," is a slang word for an armed robbery. It's also a slang word used to describe the act of stealing or breaking into someone's house to steal their stuff. In other words, it's a burglary. Heist can also act as a verb: "If you've heisted a diamond ring, you've stolen it."
Vocabulary lists containing heist
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
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Six of Crows
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All the Bright Places
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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.
The Louvre heist sent shockwaves around the world and sparked a security crisis within the world-famous museum that ultimately led to the replacement of its director, Laurence des Cars.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
These include a 2024 data breach at Coinbase that exposed the credentials of 70,000 customers, followed by a massive cryptocurrency heist on Bybit—valued at roughly $1.5 billion—which the exchange disclosed in 2025.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
But part of the fun of the Met Gala is everything we don’t expect — the looks, the attitudes, the subtext, the possibility of an eat-the-rich jewel heist.
From Salon • May 5, 2026
Last year, North Koreans absconded with $1.5 billion from crypto exchange Bybit, the largest crypto heist ever.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
Right now he was posing as the Egyptian detective assigned to gather information about the museum heist the chameleon himself had pulled off in the first chapter.
From "A Tangle of Knots" by Lisa Graff
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.
