heist

\ ˈhīst

How to pronounce heist (audio)

\

heisted; heisting; heists

Definition of heist

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 chiefly dialectal : hoist

2a : to commit armed robbery on

b : steal sense 1a

heist

Definition of heist (Entry 2 of 2)

: armed robbery : holdup also : theft

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Examples of heist in a Sentence

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 And two, how does one go about heisting the world’s largest land animal? — Paul Kvinta, Outside Online, "I Bought an Elephant to Find Out How to Save Them," 12 Nov. 2019 Houston bank branches have been hit with a steady beat of armored truck heists in recent years that involve brazen attacks on couriers. — Julian Gill, Houston Chronicle, "Armored car employee shot to death in heist in Forest Pines," 24 Oct. 2019 There are good jokes that work and heist setpieces that don’t. — Darren Franich, EW.com, "Toy Story 4 goes beyond endings, with mixed results: EW review," 13 June 2019 Sandra Bullock’s perfectly textured waves were a beautiful distraction, almost heisting the whole movie. — Kathleen Hou, The Cut, "Why Did Sandra Bullock’s Hair Look So Good in Prison?," 19 June 2018 Garner is currently facing charges in the Lake Monroe Park heists, but the Sheriff’s Office said more charges are pending for the thefts at the Splash Pad. — Jeff Weiner, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Volusia deputies nab 'bathroom brass bandit' in toilet-fixture thefts," 10 Feb. 2018 Waymo has drawn a sordid picture, contending that Levandowski heisted thousands of documents containing Google trade secrets before defecting to Uber. — Michael Liedtke, The Seattle Times, "A raucous Google-Uber fight is finally heading to trial," 4 Feb. 2018 The security officer said one man provided a distraction, while his partner heisted a large-screen television. — John Benson, cleveland.com, "Thieves caught stealing 50-inch television: Brooklyn Police Blotter," 1 Nov. 2017 It has been discussed and dissected from the day he was officially heisted from the University of Pittsburgh's staff last Dec. 14. — Ron Higgins, NOLA.com, "Is LSU's new offense ready for its close-up?," 29 Aug. 2017 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Nearly all of the heists have occurred early in the week and late at night, when only handful of workers and customers are around. — oregonlive, "'We’re a bunch of sitting ducks’: Gun-wielding robbers hit 8 Portland bars in a month," 11 Dec. 2019 Only as Terence McArdle of The Post reported, the painting wasn’t actually that famous at the time of the heist. — Washington Post, "Theft of German treasures joins ranks of brazen museum heists — from the ‘Mona Lisa’ to a solid gold toilet," 28 Nov. 2019 Authorities say license plate readers show the vehicle arriving at the highway entrance to JFK at 9:13 a.m. on the day of the heist and departing three minutes later. — Taylor Romine And Rob Frehse, CNN, "A second person was arrested in $250,000 theft at JFK International," 30 Sep. 2019 But a new civil lawsuit filed last week in Queens by the owners of the bakery detailed the full scope of the alleged heist. — Michael Gold, New York Times, "Worker Stole $90,000 in ‘Lady M’ Cakes and Resold Them, Lawsuit Says," 9 Sep. 2019 The illicit excavators wore ski masks to hide their identities, but during one heist, the license plate of a parked car showed up on the police’s drone video surveillance. — Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian, "Authorities Recover 10,000 Artifacts Stolen by International Antiquities Trafficking Ring," 23 Nov. 2019 True to its name, Widows follows four Chicago women who attempt a $5 million heist in order to pay back a crime boss from whom the women’s husbands stole before being killed in a getaway attempt gone wrong. — Lauren Huff, EW.com, "The best movie twists of the 2010s," 16 Nov. 2019 Friends attempting a daring art heist doubt their motives. — Kevin Crust, latimes.com, "L.A. movie openings, June 1," 27 May 2018 Rundown: Acquired by the Nuggets in a heist of a July 2009 trade with Detroit (the Pistons received a second-round pick), there was little flashy about Afflalo. — Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, "Nuggets All-Decade Team: Denver’s best players from 2010 through 2019," 28 Dec. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'heist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Heist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heist?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=h&file=heist001. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.

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