heist

1 of 2

verb

ˈhīst 

heisted; heisting; heists

transitive verb

1

chiefly dialectal : hoist

2

a

: to commit armed robbery on

b

: steal sense 1a

heist

2 of 2

noun

: armed robbery : holdup

also : theft

Synonyms

Verb

• steal

Noun

• theft

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

An unusual criminal ring focused entirely on heisting semi-trucks, trailers and dump trucks has been busted in Florida, resulting in $6 million worth of heavy equipment being found, according to investigators. —Mark Price, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2025

Organic eggs are $9.99 a dozen and have become so valuable people are stealing them — in Pennsylvania, 100,000 eggs worth $40,000 were heisted just this week, followed by another egg caper in Seattle. —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2025

Noun

While plundering a dungeon lair and stealing artifacts from a museum both have heist elements to them, Skullduggery looks into the other intrigues of adventures in urban environments. —Rob Wieland, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025

Launched in 2003, this sci-fi MMORPG has played host to epic spaceship battles and intergalactic heists on a scale that most other multiplayer games can only dream of. —Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 8 Sep. 2025

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

Rhymes for heist

• diced
• feist
• iced
• lysed
• priced
• sliced
• spiced
• spliced
• triste
• antichrist
• overpriced
• poltergeist

Kids Definition

heist

noun

ˈhīst

: armed robbery

also : theft

Etymology

Noun

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