as in stole
to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep
the studio stepped up security, fearing that someone might attempt to purloin a copy of the script for the show's season finale
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Recent Examples of purloined
Your duty to intervene increases with the value of the object and the likelihood it will be purloined.
—
Judith Martin, Mercury News, 29 Oct. 2025
Judith Martin, Mercury News, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purloined
Verb
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And at the country mansion of Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born, a thief stole a golden toilet in 2018.—
Ashley J. DiMella,
FOXNews.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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James notched his fifth and final score in the third quarter, and the Heights’ defense stole the show, preventing Paschal from scoring until late in the fourth quarter.—
Charles Baggarly,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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In 2023, a statue of a warrior riding a horse that symbolizes the sister city relationship between San Jose and Pune, India, was swiped from Guadalupe River Park.—
Jason Green,
Mercury News,
22 Oct. 2025
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Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has been under glass since the 1950s, but not so in 1911, when Vincenzo Perrugia, a former museum staffer, hid in a cupboard overnight, then swiped what is now the world’s most famous painting and walked out with it under his coat.—
Sophie Friedman,
AFAR Media,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purloined.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purloined. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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