ˈpilfering, vbl. n.
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
The action of the vb. pilfer. † a. Pillaging, plundering, robbery (obs.). b. Stealing or thieving in small quantities; petty theft.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V 66 b, The Englishmen durst not..ones deuide them selues or fal to pilfryng. Ibid., Hen. VII 57 b, The people..cryed to God dayly for an ende of their pilfrynge. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 38 Licentious persons..liuing vpon pilfering and stealing. 1596 Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law i. (1635) 17 Some whose offences are pilfring under twelve pence value, they judge to be whipped. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 464 There had..been..much less waste and pilfering in the dockyards than formerly. |
| attrib. 1624 Capt. J. Smith Virginia iii. vii. 70 This businesse..thus abused by such pilfring occasions. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xiv, Sneaking in and out among the shipping..in a pilfering way. |