purloin
- to take dishonestly; steal; filch; pilfer.
- to commit theft; steal.
Origin of purloin
Related Words for purloin
pilfer, filch, misappropriate, embezzle, burglarize, shoplift, poach, pillage, cheat, pinch, heist, thieve, plunder, appropriate, lift, take, snitch, defraud, swindleExamples from the Web for purloin
Contemporary Examples of purloin
If a thief gets a load of said bags, he'll pop right out of your mattress and purloin them.
Historical Examples of purloin
He broke into outhouses with an axe he managed to purloin in a wood-cutters' camp.
Under Western EyesJoseph Conrad
He must purloin it before then—that very night, if possible.
The Burglars' ClubHenry A. Hering
The great object is to purloin it by force or by fraud from those who have created it.
Harmonies of Political EconomyFrdric Bastiat
I managed to purloin a lantern from the kitchen to light our path.
Our Next-Door NeighborsBelle Kanaris Maniates
Did I not purloin it because I was so high-minded as to want to win a game of chess from you?
Henry VIII And His CourtLouise Muhlbach
purloin
- to take (something) dishonestly; steal
Word Origin for purloin
Word Origin and History for purloin
mid-14c., "remove, misappropriate," from Anglo-French purloigner "remove," Old French porloigner "put off, retard, delay, drag out; be far away," from por- (from Latin pro- "forth;" see pro-) + Old French loing "far," from Latin longe, from longus (see long (adj.)). Sense of "to steal" (1540s) is a development in English. Related: Purloined; purloining.