【每日一词】 purloin - vt.偷东西 to appropriate wrongfully and often by a breach of trust

　　purloiner noun

　　Choose the Right Synonym for purloin

　　STEAL, PILFER, FILCH, PURLOIN mean to take from another without right or without detection.

　　STEAL may apply to any surreptitious taking of something and differs from the other terms by commonly applying to intangibles as well as material things.

　　steal jewels

　　stole a look at the gifts

　　PILFER implies stealing repeatedly in small amounts.

　　pilfered from his employer

　　FILCH adds a suggestion of snatching quickly and surreptitiously.

　　filched an apple from the tray

　　PURLOIN stresses removing or carrying off for one's own use or purposes.

　　printed a purloined document

　　Examples of purloin in a Sentence

　　the studio stepped up security, fearing that someone might attempt to purloin a copy of the script for the show's season finale

　　Recent Examples on the Web

　　With its median value pitched at $50, that implies some 160 million packages purloined every year (other estimates are two or three times as high).

　　—Simon Seeger, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024

　　Inside the walls of the warehouse, where the filmmakers are occasionally able to take us thanks to purloined cell phone footage, new workers are being led into overlit, socially distanced meeting rooms where they’re led through the most predictable onslaught of union-busting propaganda.

　　—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

　　Everyone knows that data like credit cards and even Social Security numbers are routinely purloined.

　　—Steven Levy, WIRED, 12 Jan. 2024

　　These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'purloin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.