as in stealing
to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep
what sort of person would pilfer lunches from the office refrigerator?
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as in pilferage
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Recent Examples of pilfering
Phil Hay, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Noun
This, above, was the first of Naeher’s career on her 200th NWSL outing, pilfering a 3-3 draw (from three down, on the road) against Seattle Reign.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pilfering
Verb
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Prometheus was chained to a rock for stealing the fire of the gods and giving it to human beings.—
Alan Lightman
September 12,
Literary Hub,
12 Sep. 2025
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Back in May, Steven Hale pleaded guilty to spending about a year between 2021 and 2022 stealing discs from his employer and selling them online through e-commerce sites.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In a 21-page ruling, Talwani found that ICE holding an 18-year-old migrant arrested on charges of shoplifting without a bond hearing violated his due process rights.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Sep. 2025
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Now retailers say their anti-theft strategies are working, and data shows shoplifting rates are falling.—
Daniel Wine,
CNN Money,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Starting in December of that year, a number of Starovoit’s former colleagues and subordinates were implicated in embezzlement of military funds—including 19 billion rubles (around $250 million) that had been allocated for defenses along the Ukrainian border.—
ANDREI KOLESNIKOV,
Foreign Affairs,
8 Sep. 2025
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Do has been sentenced to five years in jail for accepting more than $800,000 in bribes in a scheme involving the embezzlement of millions in COVID-relief funds.—
Michael Slaten,
Oc Register,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Perceived risks for all travelers including terrorism, kidnapping, and disease actually occur less frequently than road injuries.—
Tanya Mohn,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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Eventually, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Eventually, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department publicly alleged that a kidnapping had not occurred, and that Emmanuel was believed dead.—
Chris Spargo,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Other risks include data poisoning, context hijacking and large language model (LLM) memory persistence, where cached queries or context reuse could expose sensitive information to subsequent users.—
Camellia Chan,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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The gang runs a lucrative side business hijacking trucks of electronic devices — in this case, combination DVD/VHS players.—
Declan Gallagher,
EW.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The Sounders organization was fined an undisclosed amount for misappropriation of credentials.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
8 Sep. 2025
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According to the International Trademark Association, the right of publicity is an intellectual property right that protects against the misappropriation of a person’s likeness — such as the photo — for commercial benefit.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pilfering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pilfering. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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