pickpocket

[ pik-pok-it ]
See synonyms for: pickpocketpickpocketedpickpocketing on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a person who steals money, wallets, etc., from the pockets of people, as in crowded public places.

verb (used with object)
  1. to steal (a wallet, money, etc.) in the manner of a pickpocket.

  2. to steal from (a person) in the manner of a pickpocket.

Origin of pickpocket

1
First recorded in 1585–95; pick1 + pocket

Words Nearby pickpocket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pickpocket in a sentence

  • Why not have kept him here among the rest, and made a sneaking, snivelling pickpocket of him at once?

  • The pickpocket finds it easy to unsnap a handbag and remove some of the contents, especially in crowded places.

  • He was out of it in an instant with the agility of a pickpocket, was across the room and at Hade's throat like a dog.

    Gallegher and Other Stories | Richard Harding Davis
  • "Crowd chasing a pickpocket, I imagine," said Trencher indifferently.

    From Place to Place | Irvin S. Cobb
  • "Say, boss, they've caught the pickpocket—if that's what he was," he cried out excitedly.

    From Place to Place | Irvin S. Cobb

British Dictionary definitions for pickpocket

pickpocket

/ (ˈpɪkˌpɒkɪt) /


noun
  1. a person who steals from the pockets or handbags of others in public places

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012