thieve

verb

thieved; thieving
: steal, rob

Examples of thieve in a Sentence

someone's been thieving my cookies!
Recent Examples on the Web The suspect is accused of thieving from two Targets on Wednesday and a total of eight Targets, adding up to a total of $15,000 in losses, police said. Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 8 Feb. 2024 Rats today are widely seen as filthy, thieving vectors of deadly diseases like plague and hantavirus. WIRED, 7 Oct. 2023 Eventually, Ivy begins to thieve from box stores on her own – coveting items her family won't provide for her such as tampons, disposable razors, Valentine's Day cards, lip gloss and even a diary. Morgan Hines, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2020 Taught young by her grandmother to thieve and pilfer, Ivy’s punishment when caught by her mother is to be sent back to China. Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2020 For years, the party denigrated the south as a thieving leech on the resources of the more prosperous north. Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2020 Last year, a farmer in Thirthahalli in the state of Karnataka resorted to painting his pet dog with tiger stripes to protect his coffee crop from thieving monkeys. Fox News, 30 Jan. 2020 His slickly produced videos speak to Russians’ anger about inequality and hypocritical, thieving officialdom. Anton Troianovski, New York Times, 3 Dec. 2019 The local partners eventually rebelled, denouncing the Zetas as thieving outsiders while also adopting their predatory tactics. Arkansas Online, 1 Dec. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thieve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of thieve was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near thieve

Cite this Entry

“Thieve.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thieve. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

thieve

verb
thieved; thieving

More from Merriam-Webster on thieve

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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