2 uses
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Definition
to steal things of little value — especially on a regular basis
- 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.Two (35% in)
- 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.Two (35% in)
There are no more uses of "pilfer" in Beloved.
Typical Usage
(best examples)