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to shoplift

to shoplift

39 5.0
To steal items from a shop while acting like a customer
  • verb
  • /ˈʃɑpˌlɪft/
translation icon : robar en una tienda
  • If I see you shoplifting again, I am calling the cops.
  • caught shoplifting
  • get caught shoplifting
  • arrested for shoplifting

But, yeah, this is these devices to help us shoplift better anyway.

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Examples

  • Last week he was caught shoplifting at Tower Records.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Don't shoplift; it may seem like a small thing, but if you are caught, you can be deported.

    Academic text (2016)
  • I swear to God I will never shoplift again.

  • When I was a kid, I used to shoplift.

  • The first time I tried shoplifting, I got caught.

  • I was cited for shoplifting once, but it was a mistake.

  • Some kid was just busted for shoplifting at the mall.

  • That's what happens when you shoplift, there's consequences.

  • I once accidentally shoplifted from a Kmart.

  • A woman was arrested after attempting to shoplift a pair of shoes from the store.

Synonyms

to steal
vsto shoplift
1.0

Take something that does not belong to you without permission

is limited to taking store goods while acting like a customer
to rip off
vsto shoplift
  • Informal
79 6.3

To steal something quickly without the owner knowing

uses a cover of being a store customer to take goods covertly
to knock off
vsto shoplift
  • Slang
7 8.4

Steal things, for example electronics or cars

refers specifically to taking goods from a store while acting like a buyer

Antonyms

1.0

To give money for something you buy or owe

760 1.8

To buy something by paying money

How Serious

to mug
10 5.8
to rob
696 1.2
to knock off
  • Slang
7 8.4
to burgle
  • UK
5 5.0
to shoplift
39 5.0

Surface Forms

shoplift infinitive
shoplifted past
shoplifted past participle
shoplifting present participle
shoplifts third person singular

Morphology

shoplift = shop + lift (semi-transparent) = shop + lift

The sense is clearly 'shop' + 'lift' meaning 'steal from a shop', but 'lift' as 'steal' is informal/idiomatic and may not be known to all learners.

Etymology

The word shoplift comes from the two parts shop and lift, where lift was slang for 'to steal'. So shoplift means to secretly take goods from a shop while pretending to be a customer.