heist

American  

[hahyst] / haɪst /

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 British  

/ haɪst /

noun

1. a robbery

---

verb

1. (tr) to steal or burgle

Other Word Forms

• heister noun

Etymology

Origin of heist

1925–30, alteration of hoist

Example Sentences

The title seems particularly fitting for a lobster heist.

From The Wall Street Journal

If the thieves who dropped Empress Eugenie’s crown outside the Louvre during this year’s heist, sparked an interest in jeweled headgear, try this encyclopedic guide to the world’s most famous tiaras.

From The Wall Street Journal

Newly released state papers by the National Archives of Ireland, over 20 years later, reveal the privately held views of senior civil servants, politicians and public figures at the time of the heist.

From BBC

Investigators suspect Abdoulaye N., who was arrested six days after the heist, worked with a 37-year-old friend, whom police detained several days later.

From The Wall Street Journal

The heist has been an embarrassment for the French government and a sign of a broader problem: France is full of cultural treasures, but has dwindling financial resources to protect them.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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