theft /θeft/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: thiefth ]
1 . [uncountable] the crime of stealing ⇨ thief , burglary , robbery :
Car theft is on the increase.
an arrest for petty theft (=stealing small things)
Three men were charged with attempted theft.
2 . [countable] an act of stealing something:
There have been a number of thefts in the area.
theft of
the theft of £150 from the office
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + theft
▪ attempted theft
He was charged with attempted theft.
▪ car theft British English , auto theft AmE:
Northern Ireland had one of the highest levels of car theft in Europe.
▪ identity theft (=when someone steals your personal information and uses it to obtain goods or money)
Credit card companies and banks bear the financial loss, rather than the victim of the identity theft.
▪ petty theft (=the stealing of something that is not very valuable)
There had been a rash of petty thefts in the hotel.
▪ art theft
Robbers stole paintings worth £25 million in the French Riviera’s biggest art theft.
■ verbs
▪ commit a theft
Detectives took us to the place where the theft had been committed.