shoplift
verb (used with object)
to steal (merchandise) as a shoplifter.
was shoplifting
-
past progressiveof shoplift.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
On that day, a brilliant and fetching book clerk named Maggie McClure caught his attention; Bradbury caught hers because she thought he was shoplifting books into his vast trench coat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
She confronted a man she says was shoplifting.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2022
Not when we were contacting somebody who was shoplifting.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2021
When a Charleston, S.C., patrol officer stopped a young mother outside Walmart after store officials reported that she was shoplifting groceries, her first thought was of her children.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 13, 2016
To meet this deplorable condition of things there were forty-eight different offences punishable by death: among them was shoplifting above five shillings: stealing linen from a bleaching ground: cutting hop bines and sending threatening letters.
From The History of London by Sir Walter Besant
