'Thief' definitions:
Definition of 'thief'
From: WordNet
noun
A criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it [syn: thief, stealer]
Definition of 'Thief'
From: GCIDE
- Thief \Thief\ (th[=e]f), n.; pl. Thieves (th[=e]vz). [OE. thef, theef, AS. [thorn]e['o]f; akin to OFries. thiaf, OS. theof, thiof, D. dief, G. dieb, OHG. diob, Icel. [thorn]j[=o]fr, Sw. tjuf, Dan. tyv, Goth. [thorn]iufs, [thorn]iubs, and perhaps to Lith. tupeti to squat or crouch down. Cf. Theft.]
- 1. One who steals; one who commits theft or larceny. See Theft. [1913 Webster]
- There came a privy thief, men clepeth death. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- Where thieves break through and steal. --Matt. vi. 19. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A waster in the snuff of a candle. --Bp. Hall. [1913 Webster]
- Thief catcher. Same as Thief taker.
- Thief leader, one who leads or takes away a thief. --L'Estrange.
- 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.] [1913 Webster]
- Syn: Robber; pilferer.
- Usage: Thief, Robber. A thief takes our property by stealth; a robber attacks us openly, and strips us by main force. [1913 Webster]
- Take heed, have open eye, for thieves do foot by night. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Some roving robber calling to his fellows. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'thief'
From: GCIDE
- Waster \Wast"er\, n. [OE. wastour, OF. wasteor, gasteor. See Waste, v. t.] [1913 Webster]
- 1. One who, or that which, wastes; one who squanders; one who consumes or expends extravagantly; a spendthrift; a prodigal. [1913 Webster]
- He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. --Prov. xviii. 9. [1913 Webster]
- Sconces are great wasters of candles. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
- 2. An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to waste; -- called also a thief. --Halliwell. [1913 Webster]
- 3. A kind of cudgel; also, a blunt-edged sword used as a foil. [1913 Webster]
- Half a dozen of veneys at wasters with a good fellow for a broken head. --Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster]
- Being unable to wield the intellectual arms of reason, they are fain to betake them unto wasters. --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'thief'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- bad person,
- bandit,
- betrayer,
- booster,
- brigand,
- buccaneer,
- burglar,
- cat burglar,
- cat man,
- charlatan,
- cheat,
- con artist,
- con man,
- confidence man,
- convict,
- corsair,
- cracksman,
- criminal,
- crook,
- cutpurse,
- dacoit,
- deceiver,
- delinquent,
- desperado,
- desperate criminal,
- dip,
- double-dealer,
- embezzler,
- evildoer,
- felon,
- filcher,
- filibuster,
- flimflam man,
- footpad,
- freebooter,
- fugitive,
- gallows bird,
- gangster,
- gaolbird,
- gunman,
- highwayman,
- hijacker,
- housebreaker,
- jailbird,
- Judas,
- kleptomaniac,
- larcener,
- larcenist,
- lawbreaker,
- lifter,
- malefactor,
- malevolent,
- malfeasant,
- malfeasor,
- marauder,
- misfeasor,
- mobster,
- mountebank,
- mugger,
- nip,
- outlaw,
- peculator,
- picaroon,
- pickpocket,
- pilferer,
- pirate,
- plunderer,
- poacher,
- prig,
- privateer,
- public enemy,
- purloiner,
- quisling,
- racketeer,
- robber,
- ruffian,
- scofflaw,
- sea rover,
- second-story man,
- sharper,
- shoplifter,
- sinner,
- stealer,
- swindler,
- thug,
- traitor,
- transgressor,
- trickster,
- two-timer,
- villain,
- worker of ill,
- wrongdoer