pilfer
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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pilfers,
present (3rd person singular)
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pilfered,
past participle, past
-
pilfering
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pilfersimple
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pilferssimple
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have pilferedperfect
-
has pilferedperfect
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am pilferingprogressive
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are pilferingprogressive
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is pilferingprogressive
-
have been pilferingperfect progressive
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has been pilferingperfect progressive
Past
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pilferedsimple
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had pilferedperfect
-
was pilferingprogressive
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were pilferingprogressive
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had been pilferingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pilfer
1540–50; v. use of late Middle English pilfre booty < Middle French pelfre. See pelf
Explanation
To pilfer is to steal something, typically of small value. Minor thefts, like taking a roll of toilet paper out of a public bathroom or napkins from the Early Bird Buffet are what your grandfather, for example, might pilfer. The verb pilfer comes from the Old French noun pelfre, meaning “booty,” or “spoils.” Now pilfer is used when talking about the act of stealing loot: you may find that you have to really restrain yourself from the desire to pilfer your friend’s new fur-lined gloves, even though you're pretty sure she pilfered your headphones. Robin Hood was able to pilfer from the rich to give to the poor.
Vocabulary lists containing pilfer
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This Week in Pop Culture: August 10–16, 2019
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A Long Way from Chicago
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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:
Now she should pilfer another, helping middle-class families in California and other high-tax states.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2024
The reason is that if hackers pilfer your password from one service, they can try it on your other accounts and easily get into all of them.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
There's never a need to pilfer through your cabinets, to be knocked over in a cascade of plastic storage containers à la those decades old infomercials, or to haphazardly use a cumbersome espresso maker.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2022
Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the scheme to pilfer the fund, known as 1MDB, was “massive in its scale” and “brazen in its execution.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2022
I head toward the kitchen to see what I can pilfer before dinner.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Website publishers, particularly media outlets, say that AI pilfers their content without compensation to feed its models.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
Locals in the town of Munnar, near Padayappa's habitat, call him a "gentle giant" who has never hurt anyone, even though he occasionally pilfers food from their homes and farms at night.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2023
And here’s the worst part: If a company ultimately pilfers inventions or trade secrets or anything else from users, it will already be too late.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2012
Josh Intrator, 25, who does layout for a financial magazine and lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn, pilfers toilet paper from bars and restaurants.
From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2010
I'm a poor singing gentleman, Sirs, it is true, Though cockneys do often mistake me for you; But I keep Mrs. Blackbird, and four little eggs, And neither e'er pilfers, or borrows, or begs.
From The Adventures of A Brownie As Told to My Child by Miss Mulock by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Historically, authorities have clawed back pilfered funds about 75% of the time when scams were reported within 72 hours, said the FBI’s Lynch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
At times, when throws were pilfered or just launched over the back with no jumper and seemingly no communication, it was an unholy mess.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026
It was Becerra’s dormant state political account that allegedly got pilfered of $225,000 while he was health secretary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2025
It is believed Gordon Stewart Wimbush pilfered the plate while he was studying at Gonville & Caius College, which he joined in 1908.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2025
Hal arrives with an overstuffed portfolio of maps torn from atlases and pilfered from AAA.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
What’s more, China has a history of pilfering technology to get ahead: In 2025, one in five European companies in China said that Chinese firms had stolen technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Yes, using the DOJ’s website, users are pilfering software and documents from the Epstein files.
From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2026
He probably feels more awful about his after-hours pilfering than you do.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 24, 2025
A former United States Postal Service supervisor from Compton has admitted to being a serial mail thief, pilfering more than $300,000 worth of checks, gold and collectible currency while on the job, authorities said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2025
As she watched, she noticed a mouse pilfering a basket of peanuts.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
