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One who steals; one who commits theft or larceny. See Theft. There came a privy thief, men clepeth death. Chaucer. Where thieves break through and steal. Matt. vi. 19.

Like a thief; thievish; thievishly. [Obs.] Chaucer.

A pirate. Drayton.

A pirate. [R.] Shak.

That may be the subject of an action or suit at law; as, to call a man a thief is actionable.

A thief. [Obs.] Lydgate.

hich blasts a blossom as a canker does. [Obs.] O me! you juggler! you canker blossom! You thief of Love! Shak.

To seize after pursuing; to arrest; as, to catch a thief. "They pursued . . . and caught him." Judg. i. 6.

n, Condemned alike to groan. Gray. And they shall condemn him to death. Matt. xx. 18. The thief condemned, in law already dead. Pope. No flocks that range the valley free, To slaughter I condemn. Goldsmith.

To play the thief; to steal. [Cant] But as I am Crack, I will convey, crossbite, and cheat upon Simplicius. Marston.

One given to artifices or secret practices; a juggler; a cheat; a thief. [Obs.] Shak.

etecting; the laying open what was concealed or hidden; discovery; as, the detection of a thief; the detection of fraud, forgery, or a plot. Such secrets of guilt are never from detection. D. Webster.

Twice as much; twice the number, sum, quantity, length, value, and the like. If the thief be found, let him pay double. Ex. xxii. 7.

A housebreaker or thief. [Obs.] Old Play (1631).

or mold; to inter; to bury; -- sometimes with up. The miser earths his treasure, and the thief, Watching the mole, half beggars him ere noon. Young. Why this in earthing up a carcass R. Blair.

One who fakes something, as a thief, a peddler of petty things, a workman who dresses things up, etc. [Slang]

One who filches; a thief.

cused person. To find his title with some shows of truth. Shak. To find out, to detect (a thief); to discover (a secret) -- to solve or unriddle (a parable or enigma); to understand. "Canst thou by searching find out God" Job. xi. 7. "We do hope to find out all your tricks." Milton. -- To find fault with, to blame; to…

To lie in wait for; to ambush. An ambushed thief forlays a traveler. Dryden.

A thief. [Obs.] Have an eye to your plate, for there be furies. J. Fleteher.