Theft

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Theft \Theft\ (th[e^]ft), n. [OE. thefte, AS.
     [thorn]i['e]f[eth]e, [thorn][=y]f[eth]e, [thorn]e['o]f[eth]e.
     See {Thief}.]
     1. (Law) The act of stealing; specifically, the felonious
        taking and removing of personal property, with an intent
        to deprive the rightful owner of the same; larceny.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: To constitute theft there must be a taking without the
           owner's consent, and it must be unlawful or felonious;
           every part of the property stolen must be removed,
           however slightly, from its former position; and it must
           be, at least momentarily, in the complete possession of
           the thief. See {Larceny}, and the Note under {Robbery}.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The thing stolen. [R.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, .
              . . he shall restore double.          --Ex. xxii. 4.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  theft
       n : the act of taking something from someone unlawfully; "the
           thieving is awful at Kennedy International" [syn: {larceny},
            {thievery}, {thieving}, {stealing}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  39 Moby Thesaurus words for "theft":
     acquisition, appropriation, boosting, burglary, caper, claiming,
     embezzlement, filch, filching, grab, heist, hijacking, job,
     larceny, lift, lifting, pilferage, pilfering, pinch, pinching,
     possession, purloining, reception, rip-off, robbery, robbing,
     score, shoplifting, snitching, steal, stealage, stealing, swiping,
     taking, taking away, taking possession, thievery, thieving,
     touch
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Theft
     Punished by restitution, the proportions of which are noted in 2
     Sam. 12:6. If the thief could not pay the fine, he was to be
     sold to a Hebrew master till he could pay (Ex. 22:1-4). A
     night-thief might be smitten till he died, and there would be no
     blood-guiltiness for him (22:2). A man-stealer was to be put to
     death (21:16). All theft is forbidden (Ex. 20:15; 21:16; Lev.
     19:11; Deut. 5:19; 24:7; Ps. 50:18; Zech. 5:3; Matt. 19:18; Rom.
     13:9; Eph. 4:28; 1 Pet. 4:15).
     

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  THEFT, crimes. This word is sometimes used as synonymous with larceny, 
  (q.v.) but it is not so technical. Ayliffe's Pand. 581 2 Swift's Dig. 309. 
       2. In the Scotch law, this is a proper and technical word, and 
  signifies the secret and felonious abstraction of the property of another 
  for sake of lucre, without his consent. Alison, Princ. Cr. Law of Scotl. 
  250.