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thief
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
thief
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
petty
▪ Most burglaries are the work of petty thieves on the look our for an easy opportunity.
▪ Habitual petty thieves and drug addicts dumped on top of their already bulging caseload become their newest clients.
▪ Twenty-three years old. Petty thief.
■ NOUN
car
▪ This standard feature makes it very difficult for a car thief to steal a Clio and falsify its identity.
▪ Alicia Silverstone is a poor little rich girl and Benicio Del Toro is a car thief drawn into a kidnapping plot.
▪ In an attempt to beat the car thief more sophisticated alarms are being brought on to the market.
▪ He was Paul Lazzaro, the polka-dotted car thief from Cicero, Illinois.
▪ He was a professional car thief.
▪ Craig Cook, a reformed car thief, explains how easy it is to break into a car.
▪ The car thieves jumped out and escaped on foot as the stolen vehicle ran into the house.
▪ Craig says he believes this would make a would-be car thief think twice before trying to steal a protected car.
jewel
▪ Ah, a glamorous jewel thief.
▪ The Wall Street Journal once described him as looking like an international jewel thief.
■ VERB
become
▪ Unfortunately, most would probably become the fiefs of thieves and warlords.
▪ If they had no money, then likely they would have become thieves.
▪ As the possession of documentation for stolen cattle became important, thieves began to turn stolen animals in as strays.
▪ This was rejected on the grounds that such sinister tunnels would become lurking places for thieves.
▪ But to become a thief, a real thief that was a step away from herself.
break
▪ Cottage raided: Cash totalling to £1,500 was stolen when thieves broke into a holiday cottage in Gayle, near Hawes.
▪ The canisters containing the pellets were stolen on Thursday night by thieves who broke into a storeroom at a Berkshire nature park.
▪ One night a thief broke into the church to steal jewels from the Madonna on the High Altar.
▪ A £70 pair of sunglasses was taken from one car and thieves tried to break into another.
▪ The thieves broke into Birdland in Bourton on the Water at night.
▪ The thief broke into the house between 2.30 and 9.30 p.m. on Saturday.
▪ And thieves broke into their Cumberland Street home and stole all their wedding presents.
▪ Yesterday Mike Dodd, of the authority's finance department, said the thieves broke in through a store room window.
call
▪ They call me Chernayev the thief.
▪ She rang her boss, who told her to call the thief.
▪ She told them about her house and that the managers were calling her a thief.
▪ Was the chaplain angry at being called a thief?
catch
▪ Nobody can leave the planet - not before we've caught the dangerous thief.
steal
▪ He was satisfied that this stolen gun and this thief Tucker had nothing to do with the people who had injured him.
▪ Instead of stealing away like a thief in the night!
▪ Cottage raided: Cash totalling to £1,500 was stolen when thieves broke into a holiday cottage in Gayle, near Hawes.
▪ Work, rest and steal SWEET-TOOTHED thieves made off with 230,000 Mars Bars in a cheeky raid on the world-famous chocolate factory.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be (as) thick as thieves
▪ All among the trees, the birds are thick as thieves and noisy as conventioneers.
▪ Then they'd be as thick as thieves again.
nest of spies/thieves/intrigue etc
▪ Neville Chamberlain wrote that the Cabinet was a nest of intrigue, which was, considering everything, an understatement.
▪ Perhaps we're in the middle of a nest of spies whom Meredith-Lee was about to unmask.
petty criminal/thief etc
▪ Amongst them were pickpockets, alcoholics, pimps, drug peddlers and other petty criminals.
▪ Before they met me, Steve and Paul were just petty criminals, didn't know nothing about nothing.
▪ Habitual petty thieves and drug addicts dumped on top of their already bulging caseload become their newest clients.
▪ Most burglaries are the work of petty thieves on the look our for an easy opportunity.
▪ Over the years several have been the victim of petty criminals.
▪ The Home Secretary was not about to be seen as going soft on the petty criminal.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Thieves took a marble statue from the church sometime last night.
▪ a car thief
▪ She accused me of being a thief and a liar.
▪ The thieves had been careful not to leave any fingerprints.
▪ Warning! Car thieves are operating in this area.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ All I could think was how brave the thief was, or how desperate.
▪ But the Colonel was more than a thief of funds.
▪ Colin Fountain says they've taken measures to stop thieves getting in.
▪ Elle Folk are great thieves of dough and other food, and are strange-looking indeed.
▪ In most cases the thieves targeted cars which had been left with bags or other valuables clearly visible.
▪ These were the zeks - they might be killers or thieves or rapists or parasites or hooligans.
▪ Unfortunately, most would probably become the fiefs of thieves and warlords.
▪ Well, all archaeologists were thieves, of a sort.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
thief

Waster \Wast"er\, n. [OE. wastour, OF. wasteor, gasteor. See Waste, v. t.]

  1. One who, or that which, wastes; one who squanders; one who consumes or expends extravagantly; a spendthrift; a prodigal.

    He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
    --Prov. xviii. 9.

    Sconces are great wasters of candles.
    --Swift.

  2. An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to waste; -- called also a thief.
    --Halliwell.

  3. A kind of cudgel; also, a blunt-edged sword used as a foil.

    Half a dozen of veneys at wasters with a good fellow for a broken head.
    --Beau. & Fl.

    Being unable to wield the intellectual arms of reason, they are fain to betake them unto wasters.
    --Sir T. Browne.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
thief

Old English þeof "thief, robber," from Proto-Germanic *theubaz (cognates: Old Frisian thiaf, Old Saxon thiof, Middle Dutch and Dutch dief, Old High German diob, German dieb, Old Norse þiofr, Gothic þiufs), of uncertain origin.

Wiktionary
thief

n. 1 One who has carry out a theft. 2 (context obsolete English) A waster in the snuff of a candle.

WordNet
thief
  1. n. a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it [syn: stealer]

  2. [also: thieves (pl)]

Gazetteer
Wikipedia
Thief (disambiguation)

A thief is a person who commits theft.

Thief or Thieves may also refer to:

Thief (character class)

The Thief, Burglar, Scoundrel, or Rogue is a character class in many role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft and many MMORPGs. Thieves are usually stealthy and dexterous characters able to disarm traps, pick locks, spy on foes, and perform backstabs from hiding.

Thieves are usually nimble melee or ranged combatants, and tend to be focused on dodging attacks rather than withstanding damage. They often attack by dual-wielding daggers or with other small one-handed and/or concealable weapons, relying on speed and rapid strikes rather than sheer damage output. Thieves usual work in small groups or guilds. Thieves usually have a stealth ability, allowing them to disappear from sight, often this is combined with attacking an unaware or flanked opponent to inflict high damage. Although thieves may be of any moral alignment (Good, Neutral, or Evil), they are usually either required or pressured by game design to maintain a Chaotic or at least non-Lawful (i.e., Chaotic or Neutral) ethical alignment, with game design pressures including the diminution or loss of their class-specific abilities should their actions render them Lawful or on the Lawful side of a certain point within the Neutral range.

Thieves are usually restricted to the lighter armors, leather and the like. While thieves typically cannot practice magic, they might use scrolls or magic items in some games; if neither options are available, then technical gadgets are used. In most fantasy settings, smaller and more agile fantasy races (like elves, gnomes and hobbits) are particularly suited for the thief class.

Thief (arcade game)

Thief is a 1981 arcade video game that is extremely similar to Pac-Man.

The player operates a car being pursued by several blue police cars, in a maze that is supposed to represent city streets. There are eight mazes in all, which change every level in a set order, then repeat starting with the ninth screen. The ninth through sixteenth levels are identical to the first through eighth, except the cars all move faster and the dollar signs (see next paragraph) don't last as long. After that, the game loops back to Level 9, even identifying it as such (i.e., the seventeenth stage says "Level 9 completed!" when cleared). Mazes can have up to three side tunnels that the cars can use to go from one side of the screen to the other, but a few have no tunnels at all.

Thief (film)

Thief is a 1981 neo-noir film written and directed by Michael Mann and based on the 1975 novel The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar by "Frank Hohimer" (the pen name of real-life jewel thief John Seybold). The film stars James Caan as the titular thief and Tuesday Weld as his girlfriend.

Thief (Destroyer album)

Thief is the third studio album by Destroyer and the first recorded with a full band on every track. Thief is thought to be an attack on the music industry perhaps a response to the lack of success that Bejar's other band, The New Pornographers, were having after releasing their EP.

Thief (Our Lady Peace song)

"Thief" is a song written and performed by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace and released in 1999 on the album Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.

Thief (Apple II video game)

Thief is a 1982 computer game created by Bob Flanagan and published by Datamost.

Thief (Camouflage song)

Thief is a single by German synthpop group Camouflage. The single was released on July 12, 1999 via Virgin Records label. The single was later re-recorded and included on their sixth studio album Sensor in 2003.

Thief (miniseries)

Thief is an FX television mini-series which debuted on March 28, 2005 (see 2005 in television).

Andre Braugher stars as Nick Atwater, the leader of a robbery crew balancing his personal life with the planning of a major heist. The crew is being targeted by a relentless cop and the Chinese mafia every step of the way, while Atwater struggles at home with his teenage stepdaughter ( Mae Whitman). Braugher won his second Emmy as Best Actor in a television series in 2006 for his work on Thief.

The pilot was originally ordered by FX back in 2002, but didn't move forward until Braugher signed on. Despite critical acclaim, the show failed to garner significant ratings and FX declined to extend the series.

Thief (soundtrack)

Thief (1981) is the second soundtrack album by the German band Tangerine Dream and their fifteenth album overall. It is the soundtrack for the film Thief, directed by Michael Mann. It reached No. 43 on the UK Albums Chart in a 3-week run.

"Beach Theme" and "Beach Scene" are two different mixes of the same piece. The album version of "Dr. Destructo" is quite different from the film version. An extended version of "Dr. Destructo" was available only on a promo single. "Igneous" is a remix of "Thru Metamorphic Rocks" from the 1979 album Force Majeure. Neither "Beach Theme" nor "Trap Feeling" appear in the film.

After Tangerine Dream completed the soundtrack, Mann needed another sequence. As Tangerine Dream was on tour, Craig Safan composed and performed "Confrontation". The original 1981 Elektra LP released in the U.S. featured "Confrontation", but subsequent releases featured "Beach Scene" instead.

During the 1980s, Toronto television station CITY-TV used "Scrap Yard" as their background music when inserting technical difficulties slide cards.

The soundtrack was also nominated for Worst Musical Score at the 2nd Golden Raspberry Awards.

Thief (series)

Thief is a series of stealth video games in which the player takes the role of Garrett, a master thief in a fantasy/ steampunk world resembling a cross between the Late Middle Ages and the Victorian era, with more advanced technologies interspersed.

The series consists of Thief: The Dark Project (1998), Thief II: The Metal Age (2000), Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004) and Thief (2014). An expanded version of Thief: The Dark Project, titled Thief Gold, was released in 1999 and features three extra maps and several bug fixes. Looking Glass Studios developed both The Dark Project and The Metal Age. After the studio had gone out of business in 2000, many former employees moved to Ion Storm Austin and began developing the third part of the series, Deadly Shadows, long anticipated by fans of the series. Eidos Montreal was subsequently given the reins for Thief.

Thief (2014 video game)

Thief is a stealth video game developed by Eidos Montreal, published by Square Enix, and released in February 2014 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows video gaming platforms. It is a revival of the cult classic Thief video game series of which it is the fourth installment. Initially announced in 2009 as Thief 4, it was later announced in 2013 that the game is a reboot for the series.

The game is set in 'The City', a dark fantasy world inspired by Victorian, gothic, and steampunk aesthetics. Players control Garrett, a master thief who embarks on several missions focusing on stealing from the rich. Players may approach levels in a variety of different ways; players can choose the action oriented and lethal approach, where players will kill enemies on their way to their destination, using knives and takedowns, or opt for the non-lethal stealthy approach, where players avoid conflict altogether. Players also may choose which path to take to their destination, as each location contains several branching paths.

Upon release, the game received a mixed critical reception, with critics praising its replay value and stealth gameplay, but criticizing the map layout and story.

Usage examples of "thief".

But it is a little silly for an agitator to cry thief when the success of his agitation has led to the adoption of his ideas.

Formerly, such a visit would have been attended with great danger to the parties making the attempt, from the number of desperate characters who inhabited the back-slums lying in the rear of Broad-street: where used to be congregated together, the most notorious thieves, beggars, and bunters of the metropolis, amalgamated with the poverty and wretchedness of every country, but more particularly the lower classes of Irish, who still continue to exist in great numbers in the neighbourhood.

I therefore offered to buy the beaker he was making and I put down a piece of money, and the said Zorzi, called the Ballarin, a liar, a thief and an assassin, took the said piece of money, and set the said beaker within the annealing oven of the said furnace, wherein I saw many other pieces of fine workmanship, and he said that I should have the said beaker when it was annealed.

A crowd gathered round, and an evil fellow, one Fulk, the apparitor, an underling of the sheriff employed to summon criminals to the court, remarked that as a thief could not legally be mutilated unless he had taken to the value of a shilling, it would be well to add a few articles to the list of stolen goods.

I may not be a thief on your lofty level, Apropos, but I can hold my own.

My knees almost melted at the double entendre, but I stiffened them and reminded my libido that he was a thief who had cruelly stolen my aquamanile and left me at the mercy of the gendarmes.

I stiffened them and reminded my libido that he was a thief who had cruelly stolen my aquamanile and left me at the mercy of the gendarmes.

I was waited on by the ugly aunt, who begged me not to take a servant while I remained in her house, for by her account all servants were thieves.

The parson, forgetting the sacerdotal office, and his good habit of grinning, swore at Messrs Beit and Mr Ritson, calling them damned thieves, and then began to read the manuscript, and to compare it with the printed book.

If anything happened to Belet Vor it would be just the excuse needed by some would-be Bradhi of Thieves.

The thief bleated as the lightning fast head stabbed, fishhook teeth clicking shut an inch from her face.

You seek the return of the gold that was seized off Bonanza in August of 1690 and that is believed to be in the hands of the band of thieves and pirates led by the villain Jack Shaftoe.

The Window-Cleaner Tells his Name 6 The Search for the Missing Papers 7 The Secret Hiding Place 8 The Thief Escapes 9 The Runaway Coach 10 The Papers Recovered--and Puddleby Again FOREWORD When my husband, Hugh Lofting, wrote and illustrated this story of Pippinella, the green canary, for the New York Herald Tribune his intention was some day to publish the material in book form.

Guild, the trade association of ceramicists, tilemakers, glassblowers, and other artisans that was the cover for the most brutal and nefarious ring of thieves in the Market.

I have compelled the thief to refund this money, together with the fifty sequins of which he had likewise cheated me.