purloin

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
9
Words With Friends
13
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/pɜːˈlɔɪn/(UK)

Definition of purloin

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. (formal, humorous, transitive, usually)To take the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully; to steal.
    “Had from his wakeful custody purloined / The guarded gold.”
    “Probably my acquaintance, Mr Blank, therefore, would have been able, if he had so wished to do, to purloin the papers which he mentioned.”
    “The refreshment room was full of chatter and babble, which attracted everybody's envious glances. Some one had left his set in the middle of the dance, purloined a sandwich from the buffet, and was now chewing away proudly as he swerved and stamped, to the amusement of the rest.”
    “Or was this simply another item Mr. Stink had purloined during his career as a gentleman thief?”
See all 2 definitions

verb

  1. (formal, humorous, transitive, usually)To take the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully; to steal.
    “Had from his wakeful custody purloined / The guarded gold.”
    “Probably my acquaintance, Mr Blank, therefore, would have been able, if he had so wished to do, to purloin the papers which he mentioned.”
    “The refreshment room was full of chatter and babble, which attracted everybody's envious glances. Some one had left his set in the middle of the dance, purloined a sandwich from the buffet, and was now chewing away proudly as he swerved and stamped, to the amusement of the rest.”
    “Or was this simply another item Mr. Stink had purloined during his career as a gentleman thief?”
  2. (intransitive)To commit theft; to thieve.
    “The Apostle expressly forbiddeth servants to purloin (Titus 2:10).”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English purloynen (“to remove”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman purloigner (“to put far away”), one of the variants of Old French porloignier. Doublet of prolong.

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

A single letter you can add to purloin to make another valid word.

Find your best play with purloin

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes purloin, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.