Adjacent Words

Filch definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FILCH, v.t. [This word, like pilfer, is probably from the root of file, or peel, to strip or rub off. But I know not from what source we have received it.]
To steal something of little value; to pilfer; to steal; to pillage; to take wrongfully from another.
Fain would they filch that little food away.
But he that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: make off with belongings of others [syn: pilfer, cabbage, purloin, pinch, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak, filch, nobble, lift]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Middle English Date: 1561 to appropriate furtively or casually <filch a cookie> Synonyms: see steal

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. pilfer, steal. Derivatives: filcher n. Etymology: 16th-c. thieves' sl.: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Filch Filch (f[i^]lch), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filched (f[i^]lcht); p. pr. & vb. n. Filching.] [Cf. AS. feolan to stick to, OHG. felhan, felahan, to hide, Icel. fela, Goth. filhan to hide, bury, Prov. E. feal to hide slyly, OE. felen.] To steal or take privily (commonly, that which is of little value); to pilfer. Fain would they filch that little food away. --Dryden. But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(filches, filching, filched) If you say that someone filches something, you mean they steal it, especially when you do not consider this to be a very serious crime. (INFORMAL) I filched some notes from his wallet. = swipe VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Pilfer, purloin, steal, crib.

Moby Thesaurus

abstract, and, annex, appropriate, bag, boost, borrow, cop, crib, defraud, embezzle, extort, hook, lift, make off with, nip, palm, pilfer, pinch, poach, purloin, run away with, rustle, scrounge, shoplift, snare, snatch, snitch, steal, swindle, swipe, take, thieve, walk off with