as in stealing
to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep
what sort of person would pilfer lunches from the office refrigerator?
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pilferage
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Recent Examples of pilfering
Phil Hay, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Noun
This, above, was the first of Naeher’s career on her 200th NWSL outing, pilfering a 3-3 draw (from three down, on the road) against Seattle Reign.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pilfering
Verb
-
The core of the game is stealing characters from other gamers.—
Annabelle Canela,
Parents,
5 Sep. 2025
-
From her start as a Fly Girl on the sketch comedy program In Living Color in the early ’90s to stealing scenes in Selena and The Wedding Planner, then topping charts with her debut album On the 6.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Lamkin was being detained by Target's loss prevention at the 4850 East Southport Road location for shoplifting before being released.—
Jade Jackson,
IndyStar,
25 Aug. 2025
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Wheeler highlighted the shoplifting issue in a letter sent to members of the Massachusetts delegation in response to an inquiry about potential price gouging at Stop & Shop’s urban store locations.—
Lance Reynolds,
Boston Herald,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Polk is charged with one count each of first-degree murder and embezzlement from a vulnerable adult and two counts each of forgery of a document, identity theft and possession of a financial transaction device.—
Christina Hall,
Freep.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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Have Third Parties Do Financial Audits And Reviews To deter embezzlement, founders should implement regular financial audits and reviews by an independent third party.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
25 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Perceived risks for all travelers including terrorism, kidnapping, and disease actually occur less frequently than road injuries.—
Tanya Mohn,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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Eventually, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Eventually, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department publicly alleged that a kidnapping had not occurred, and that Emmanuel was believed dead.—
Chris Spargo,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Other risks include data poisoning, context hijacking and large language model (LLM) memory persistence, where cached queries or context reuse could expose sensitive information to subsequent users.—
Camellia Chan,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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The gang runs a lucrative side business hijacking trucks of electronic devices — in this case, combination DVD/VHS players.—
Declan Gallagher,
EW.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
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According to the International Trademark Association, the right of publicity is an intellectual property right that protects against the misappropriation of a person’s likeness — such as the photo — for commercial benefit.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
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The estate accused Temu of trademark infringement as well as misappropriation of likeness among other claims.—
Ethan Millman,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pilfering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pilfering. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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