Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To take (something, especially something of little value) in a furtive manner; snitch. See Synonyms at steal.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To steal, especially in a small, sly way; pilfer; take from another on a petty scale, as for the supply of a present need, or in an underhand way, as by violation of trust or good faith.
- n. A stick with a hook at the end, used in filching articles from windows, clothes-lines, etc.
- n. An act of theft; also, the thing stolen.
- n. One who filches or is given to filching; a filcher.
Wiktionary
- v. To steal, to illegally take possession of.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To steal or take privily (commonly, that which is of little value); to pilfer.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make off with belongings of others
Etymologies
- Middle English filchen.
Examples
“The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind ... to filch wealth and power to themselves.”
“It would be the work of a minute to nip in and filch the goods.”
“They eat an insane number of carrots and raw lasagna noodles that they bought in bulk at Sam's Club 12 years ago, and they filch bananas from co-workers' lunch bags when they're not watching.”
The Wall Street Journal: The Secret World of Inflation Watchers
“Whence the verb crib, which meant "to filch" under cover of wicker anything -- some liquor,”
“Les Synonyms: dérober = to purloin chiper = to swipe, filch piquer = to pinch, to nick”
“Twice I tried to filch some cheese from the sideboard, and twice Grandfather caught me.”
“Tempted to start a show myself called "I Know I'm Going to Die Soon" and thus filch the secret of a long and even happier life.”
“The female blacklegs, — filch like "Hell" - taught blades,”
“Though not the creator of either goal, his intimidating pace enabled Stoke to score twice in the second half and filch victory.”
The Guardian: Tony Pulis finds no substitute for nous in Stoke's win against Wolves
“At the Sugarloaf Golf Club in Maine, playful fox kits dash into the fairway to filch drives from the middle of the fairway.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘filch’.
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Jesse's random
bathos, dragoman, tessellated, escutcheon, eikon, mondaine, basilisk, ciborium, rubric, machicolation, jet, defalcation and 154 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Lying, cheating, and stealing
subterfuge, chicanery, skulduggery, pilfer, purloin, bamboozle, bilk, gyp, hoodwink, swindle, hoax, dupe and 28 more...
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Verbages
puddle, kowtow, tessellate, defalcate, embezzle, enkindle, ablate, frivol, moonlight, tongue-tie, gobble, pettifog and 7 more...
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::: Really Fun To Say :::
phantasmagoria, lubberwort, oconomowoc, ranunculus, ululant, filch, kwashiorkor, flibbertigibbet, fossick, badugi
bilby
'Now, who should there in Heaven be
To fill your place, ma très-douce mie? 10
To reach that spot I little care!
There all the droning priests are met;
All the old cripples, too, are there
That unto shrines and altars cling
To filch the Peter-pence we bring';— 15
Said Aucassin to Nicolette.
- Edmund Clarence Stedman, 'Provençal Lovers'. Sep 17, 2009
yarb Citation on craw. Oct 2, 2008
yarb ...he fell
into the habitual practice of
filching his Sunday supper from the fridge.
This hebdomadary beano was quite
contary to the expectations of
the establishment...
- Peter Reading, Inter-City, from Fiction, 1979 Jun 26, 2008