filch
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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filchsimple
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filchessimple
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have filchedperfect
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has filchedperfect
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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
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had filchedperfect
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was filchingprogressive
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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
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
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
It might seem like a shelter from the storm, but it really was another asylum packed with a bunch of mangy orphans ready to filch my last possessions while I slept.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
"But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed."
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2018
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
I value my honour and those family jewels, Captain Norton,” he continued, facing his guest; “and the man who filches from me one or the other does so at the risk of his life!”
From The Sapphire Cross by Fenn, George Manville
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
During Judge Kavanaugh’s time there — 15 or so years after women arrived — some fraternity brothers paraded around campus displaying women’s underwear they had filched, drawing criticism.
From New York Times ● Sep. 26, 2018
Like a human woman, Rachael had every class of object conceivable filched and hidden away in her purse; he found himself rooting interminably.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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
Then they began filching stories from their real lives for the show.
From Slate ● May 29, 2012
One half of his time he spent in filching stray morsels from the kitchen and in dozing in the sun, while the rest of his days were passed—Grimalkin did not know where.
From Lives of the Fur Folk by Haviland, M. D.
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.
