pilfer
verbUK /ˈpɪl.fə/ · US /ˈpɪl.fɚ/
Etymology From earlier pilfre, from Middle English pilfre (“booty”), from Old French pelfre (“plunder, booty, spoils”), of unknown origin. Compare pelf.
1
Ambitransitive To steal in small quantities, or articles of small value; to practise petty theft.
- pilfer goods
- pilfer from a store
4 more examples
- pilfer small items
- The boy tried to pilfer sweets from the shop.
- Office supplies often get pilfered by employees.
- The truck carrying 413,793 units of a “new chocolate range”, about 12 tons of chocolate bars, was pilfered while driving through Europe on 26 March, Agence France-Presse reported.2026 March 28, Gloria Oladipo, “Sugar high(st): more than twelve tons of KitKat’s ‘new chocolate range’ stolen in Italy”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2026:
- Derived terms
- pilferable, pilferage, pilferer, pilferingly, pilferproof, unpilfered