heist

1 of 2

verb

heisted; heisting; heists

transitive verb

1
chiefly dialectal : hoist
2
a
: to commit armed robbery on

heist

2 of 2

noun

: armed robbery : holdup
also : theft

Example Sentences

Verb a professional burglar was able to heist a box of jewelry from the safe in the closet Noun it was the largest jewelry heist in the city's history
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Plus, the Wall Street Journal told us to save money by skipping breakfast, and a man in the UK heisted thousands of dollars worth of Cadbury Creme Eggs. Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 17 Feb. 2023 Shohei Ohtani is the greatest player on the planet, scarcely pausing to heist that title from teammate Mike Trout. Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2022 The movie chronicles the red sanders heist in the hills of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Sweta Kaushal, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2021 How can attempting to heist a sequence of legendary, impossible-to-crack safes across Europe not be fun? Lisa Respers France, CNN, 30 Oct. 2021 Dieter is brought in to help heist a sequence of legendary, impossible-to-crack safes across Europe. Nick Romano, EW.com, 25 Sep. 2021 The initial part of the chase — where Washington Protagonist and his partner, Neil, played by Robert Pattinson, heist an object from a moving truck — was rehearsed and filmed as a complete sequence. Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2020 McGrady and Lakers executive Jerry West, who heisted Bryant from the Hornets during the 1996 NBA Draft, checked in via video. Chad Finn, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Jan. 2020 And two, how does one go about heisting the world’s largest land animal? Paul Kvinta, Outside Online, 12 Nov. 2019
Noun
The few filming locations outside of Troublemaker included Republic Square in downtown Austin (the setting for the film’s opening bank heist), Cedar Park, and Georgetown (where its climax was shot). Isaac Feldberg, Chron, 11 May 2023 Trending How to Blow Up a Pipeline may be a disruption procedural, spending a lot of screen time detailing the act of making homemade bombs, organizing property demolition as a means of protest, coordinating subversive acts with the precision of a jewel heist. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2023 But there’s growing concern that the hackers belong to an infamous North Korean group known as Lazarus, which the FBI tied to the 2014 Sony Pictures hack and major heists at banks and cryptocurrency exchanges. Michael Kan, PCMAG, 31 Mar. 2023 Midnight heist of rare horse: Minnesota woman's bizarre fight with a Florida circus owner. Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 31 Mar. 2023 She's appeared in the crime thriller S.W.A.T., the science fiction epic Avatar and the heist movie Widows. Adam England, Peoplemag, 18 Mar. 2023 Two suspects arrested over $1.6M wine heist at Spanish hotel At about 2 a.m. Al Goodman, CNN, 7 Mar. 2023 Polite Society is reportedly a combination heist film, martial-arts extravaganza, and diasporic social satire, which sounds like an amazing combination. Rachel Handler, Vulture, 17 Jan. 2023 Russia has looted Ukraine’s museums in what experts say is the biggest art heist since World War II. Ian Prasad Philbrick, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2023 See More

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

Word History

Etymology

Verb

variant of hoist entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1865, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1930, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of heist was in 1865

Dictionary Entries Near heist

Cite this Entry

“Heist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heist. Accessed 28 May. 2023.

Kids Definition

heist

noun
ˈhīst
: armed robbery
also : theft
Etymology

Noun

from a dialect variant of hoist "an act of hoisting"

More from Merriam-Webster on heist

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!