thief

CEFRA2

/ˈθiːf/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A person who steals.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A waster in the snuff of a candle.

Examples

  • Surprisingly enough, he turned out to be a thief.

  • The thief forced her to hand over the money.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. One who steals another person's property, especially by stealth and without using force or violence.

  2. One who carries out a theft.

More examples

In context

  • Take heed to false harlots, and more, ye wot what. / If noise ye heare, / Looke all be cleare: / Least drabs doe noie thee, / And theeues destroie thee.

  • But hear you, my Worthy Brethren: do not you, where you see a thief in the candle, call presently for an extinguisher[…]

  • water-thieves and land-thieves

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank climbed out the window after taking the expensive watch from the bedroom.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz.