thief-like, a. and adv.
(ˈθiːflaɪk)
[f. thief + like a. and adv.]
a. adj. Like or resembling a thief. b. adv. In the manner of a thief.
| 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim ii. ii, But since thou stealst upon me like a spie, And thief-like thinkst that holy case shall carry thee Through all my purposes. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 25 Each of them, thief-like, wished to steal an unobserved gaze at the other. 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 143 And thief-like step of liberal hours Thawing snow-drift into flowers. |