Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who steals by entering houses through doors or windows left open or unfastened.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • When I opened up all I found was Eggy Edgworth, small-time burglar, sneak-thief, and copper's nark of this parish who didn't look much like Destiny.

    Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine 2005

  • Bundy he said, you only sell shoes, your son is a sneak-thief, your daughters 'a flooze.

    EPISODE GUIDE: Married with Children by Dean Adams 1993

  • So what was left but the common hazard of travel, the sneak-thief and killer loose in the wild places, ready to pull a man from his horse and bludgeon his head to pulp for the clothes he wore, let alone a splendid horse and a handful of jewellery?

    The Devil's Novice Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1983

  • So what was left but the common hazard of travel, the sneak-thief and killer loose in the wild places, ready to pull a man from his horse and bludgeon his head to pulp for the clothes he wore, let alone a splendid horse and a handful of jewellery?

    The Devil's Novice Peters, Ellis, 1913- 1983

  • When wiring a window the usual idea is to assume that the sneak-thief who breaks and enters is a slave to habit who pushes up the lower sash and crawls in under, apart from which the average electrician finds it much kinder on the shoulder muscles to wire at waist level instead of above the head.

    Fear is the Key MacLean, Alistair 1961

  • But for these institutions the wanton and the sneak-thief and the confidence man and woman would find their opportunities seriously curtailed.

    Policing the Plains Being the Real-Life Record of the Famous North-West Mounted Police R.G. MacBeth

  • Retaining what belongs to another, simply because it has come into our hands by mistake, is as much a theft in its spirit as purposed stealing; and the fine lady who keeps the change to which she is not entitled, or the yard of ribbon measured to her in error, is just as criminal, as the sneak-thief who gets into her hall through a neglected door and steals her husband's overcoat.

    Choice Readings for the Home Circle Anonymous

  • I thought it was a sneak-thief, or a burglar, for you know they often rob houses by going up in dumb waiters.

    Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home Laura Lee Hope

  • I felt a full-fledged sneak-thief, but I thought of

    Danger Signals Remarkable, Exciting and Unique Examples of the Bravery, Daring and Stoicism in the Midst of Danger of Train Dispatchers and Railroad Engineers John A. Hill

  • "A fine chase you've given me to-night; and playing the part of sneak-thief in the bargain; but then, of course, you believe what I told you, now, Hugh, since you've seen that the watch was in my locker?"

    The Chums of Scranton High on the Cinder Path Donald Ferguson

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