shopliftern.
/ˈʃɒpˌlɪftə/, U.S. /ˈʃɑpˌlɪftər/ A person who steals from a shop, esp. when pretending to be a customer.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > from shops
shop thief1613
cloyer1659
tiler1659
shoplifter1661
shoplift1665
shop-pad1705
booster1912
heister1927
pickup artist1931
1661 5th Pt. Wandering Whore 14 Common Whores, Night-walkers, Pick-pockets, Wanderers, Shop Lifters, and Whippers.
1671 R. Head & F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue IV. xviii. sig. R*3 Towards Night these Houses are thronged with people of all sorts..Shop-lifters, Foilers, Bulkers.
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub vi. 133 Like a discovered Shoplifter, left to the Mercy of Exchange-Women.
1770 G. Baretti Journey London to Genoa II. xxxiv. 2 A shop-lifter was once hang'd in England.
1857 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 22 Oct. A female shop-lifter, who had been doing rather an extensive business, was caught in Boston on Monday.
1881 A. Lang Library 47 The papers call lady shoplifters ‘Kleptomaniacs’.
1931 in C. R. Shaw & M. E. Moore Nat. Hist. Delinquent Career v. 74 I was only an infant in crime, although on the outside I had thought myself an expert shop-lifter.
1973 T. Crouse Boys on Bus ii. xi. 250 Ziegler was like an expert floorwalker who would spot a shoplifter, walk calmly to the nearest phone, ring Security, and adjust his pocket hanky as the security thugs dragged the shoplifter away.
2003 Times 19 Dec. (T2 section) 3/1 Busy mothers..learn to shop like shoplifters. We don't think. We just grab and run.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1661