stealing

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Taking dishonestly

Nouns

1. stealing, theft, thievery, robbery; abduction, kidnapping; abstraction, appropriation; plagiarism; rape, depredation, poaching, raid; spoliation, plunder, pillage, sack, rapine, brigandage, foray; extortion, blackmail; graft; piracy, privateering, buccaneering; burglary; housebreaking; peculation, pilfering, embezzlement; fraud, swindle (see deception); identity theft; kleptomania; grand or petty larceny; pickpocketing, shoplifting, highway robbery; holdup, stick-up, mugging; hijacking; cybercrime. Informal, haul, inventory leakage, social engineering. Slang, make, heist, snatch, snitch, touch, inside job, score, rip-off, Black Power dance, hustle.

2. thief, robber, bandit, crook, sneak thief, pickpocket, hook, cracksman, safe cracker, peterman, pilferer; swindler, confidence man; shoplifter, housebreaker, kleptomaniac; stealer, pirate, purloiner, filcher; highwayman, brigand, cateran, gentleman of the road; [cat] burglar, second-story man, etc.; horse thief, rustler; poacher; looter; cyberthief; white-collar criminal. Slang, apache, cat bandit, dip, stickup artist, yegg, big juice, flimp, gonif, perp, alley rat, ham-snatcher, dipster, ice man, rip-off artist. See evildoer.

3. stolen goods, booty. Slang, five-finger discount, hot roller, merch, swag, loot, smoker.

Verbs

1. steal, thieve; rob, purloin, pilfer, filch, cop, crib, palm; scrounge, sponge; abstract, appropriate, plagiarize; abduct, kidnap; make, walk, or run off or away with; seize, take, help oneself to; spirit away; plunder, pillage, rifle, sack, loot, ransack; mug; prey on; spoil, spoliate, despoil, strip, sweep, gut, forage; blackmail, pirate, maraud, poach, smuggle, run; hold up, stick up, hijack, skyjack. Informal, swipe, do out of, rob the till, have one's hand in the till. Slang, heist, rip off, knock off or over, snitch, take to the cleaners, roll, dip, jostle, liberate, skim, boost, nick.

2. swindle, peculate, embezzle, extort; sponge, mulct, rook, bilk, milk, pluck, fleece, defraud; obtain under false pretenses; live by one's wits; rob Peter to pay Paul; set a thief to catch a thief. Informal, rook, gouge, shake down, bleed white. Slang, wrangle, hustle, cuff, murphy.

3. be stolen. Informal, fall off the back of a truck.

Adjectives — stealing, thieving, thievish, sticky- or light-fingered, furtive; piratical, predaceous, predacious, predatory; stolen. Slang, hot.

Interjections — reach for the sky! stick 'em up! stand and deliver! your money or your life! Slang, break yourself!

Phrases — the rich rob the poor, and the poor rob each other; set a thief to catch a thief; rob Peter to pay Paul.

Quotations — Opportunity makes a thief (Francis Bacon), Once in the racket you're always in it (Al Capone), Crime isn't a disease, it's a symptom. Cops are like a doctor that gives you aspirin for a brain tumor (Raymond Chandler), If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research (Wilson Mizner), The robber that smiles steals something from the thief (Shakespeare), Why do you rob banks? Because that's where the money is (Willie Sutton).

Antonyms, see probity, restoration.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

Syn. piracy, embezzlement, shoplifting; see crime 2 , theft .