thief
[theef]
- a person who steals, especially secretly or without open force; one guilty of theft or larceny.
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Origin of thief
before 900; Middle English; Old English thēof; cognate with Dutch dief, German Dieb, Old Norse thjōfr, Gothic thiufs
Synonyms
See more synonyms for thief on Thesaurus.comburglar, pickpocket, highwayman. Thief, robber refer to one who steals. A thief takes the goods or property of another by stealth without the latter's knowledge: like a thief in the night. A robber trespasses upon the house, property, or person of another, and makes away with things of value, even at the cost of violence: A robber held up two women on the street.
thieve
[theev]
- to take by theft; steal.
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- to act as a thief; commit theft; steal.
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Origin of thieve
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for thieves
Contemporary Examples
Last month I turned and faced their surreptitious security: “Catch any thieves today?”
‘Why Have I Lost Control?’: Cory Booker in ’92 on Rodney King Echoes FergusonCory Booker
November 26, 2014
He suspects that he saw, somehow, what the thieves saw, tapping into their perception of the back of the house.
Knocking on Heaven's Door: True Stories of Unexplained, Uncanny Experiences at the Hour of DeathPatricia Pearson
August 11, 2014
Typically most women carry their concealed firearms in their purses, the main target of thieves.
Indeed, a condition of rampant, endemic political corruption is known as a “kleptocracy”—literally, “rule by thieves.”
Megan Boken was one of many slain by thieves going ‘Apple picking.’
Historical Examples
He also is the chief of the police force and catches the thieves.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
He would not have been embarrassed if they had been the Forty Thieves.
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
I do not hold diplomatic relations with thieves and vagabonds.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
Their thieves are the most daring and their agents the most cunning.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
They are thieves—they will steal from you before your very face, so devoid are they of all shame.
Green MansionsW. H. Hudson
thieve
- to steal (someone's possessions)
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Word Origin
Old English thēofian, from thēof thief
thief
- a person who steals something from another
- criminal law a person who commits theft
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Word Origin
Old English thēof; related to Old Frisian thiāf, Old Saxon thiof, Old High German diob, Old Norse thjōfr, Gothic thiufs
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for thieves
thief
n.
Old English þeof, from Proto-Germanic *theubaz (cf. Old Frisian thiaf, Old Saxon thiof, Middle Dutch dief, Old High German diob, German dieb, Old Norse þiofr, Gothic þiufs), probably from PIE *teup- (cf. Lithuanian tupeti "to crouch down").
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thieve
v.
Old English þeofian, from þeof (see thief). Rare in Old English, not common until 17c. Thieving first attested 1520s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper