Both Uses of
pilfer
in
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
- Schoolteacher took away the guns from the Sweet Home men and, deprived of game to round out their diet of bread, beans, hominy, vegetables and a little extra at slaughter time, they began to pilfer in earnest, and it became not only their right but their obligation.†
Part 2
- Sethe understood it then, but now with a paying job and an employer who was kind enough to hire an ex-convict, she despised herself for the pride that made pilfering better than standing in line at the window of the general store with all the other Negroes.†
Part 2 *pilfering = stealing
Definition:
to steal small amounts or unimportant items -- often repeatedly or secretly