THIEF • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Thief

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noun

Thief n. (pl. thieves)

One who steals; one who commits theft or larceny. See Theft. "There came a privy thief, men clepeth death." "Where thieves break through and steal."

A waster in the snuff of a candle.

Thief catcher. Same as Thief taker.

Thief leader, one who leads or takes away a thief.

Thief taker, one whose business is to find and capture thieves and bring them to justice.

Thief tube, a tube for withdrawing a sample of a liquid from a cask.

Thieves' vinegar, a kind of aromatic vinegar for the sick room, taking its name from the story that thieves, by using it, were enabled to plunder, with impunity to health, in the great plague at London. (Eng.)

Synonyms: Robber; pilferer. Thief, Robber. A thief takes our property by stealth; a robber attacks us openly, and strips us by main force. "Take heed, have open eye, for thieves do foot by night." "Some roving robber calling to his fellows."

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Etymology of 'Thief'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Thief" Quotes from Famous Books

... descended, when the sound of the river in the darkness beneath told us that the water had arrived; and the men, dripping with wet, had just sufficient time to drag their heavy burdens up the bank. All was darkness and confusion. The river had arrived like "a thief ...

— Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines • Henry Charles Moore

... my room to seize him, to strangle him, to kill him!... But before I could reach it, my chair fell over as if somebody had run away from me ... my table rocked, my lamp fell and went out, and my window closed as if some thief had been surprised and had fled out into the ...

— Masterpieces of Mystery, Vol. 1 (of 4) - Ghost Stories • Various

... quietly," said one, "we can get all the silver without waking the family." I then understood the expression, "It takes a thief to catch a thief," for after the milk and corned beef episodes I felt like a branded criminal. They started out to do their dishonest work and I followed, my velvet paws making no noise. They were so intent with watching out for policemen ...

— The Nomad of the Nine Lives • A. Frances Friebe

... underworld receive such new accessions to their numbers and power. For in the nature of the case, it is inevitable that all varieties of outcasts and outlaws should join forces. The religious schismatic makes common cause with the pariah; the political offender with the thief and robber. Such association of elements vastly increases the difficulty of repressing crime. The band of thieves and robbers in the cave of Adullam doubtless found their powers of preying vastly increased through the acquisition of such a leader as David. ...

— The Unpopular Review, Volume II Number 3 • Various

... or covers. Hence the very common expression, The healer is as bad as the stealer; that is, the receiver is as bad as the thief. ...

— The Dialect of the West of England Particularly Somersetshire • James Jennings

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