Meanings
nounpilferage (countable and uncountable, plural pilferages)
plural pilferages
- countableuncountableThe individual act or recurring practice of stealing items of low value, especially in small quantities, for which the legal term is petty theft.
Still, there is pilferage, mysterious discrepancies eating into the percentages.
1981, John Updike, Rabbit is Rich1 more example
Sir Thomas Royden, Chairman of the L.M.S.R., and Mr. Robert Holland-Martin, Chairman of the Southern Railway, both deplored the wholesale robbery and petty pilferage which have increased until they have reached appalling dimensions.
1942 May-June, “Theft on the Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 130
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian дребна кражба
- дребна кражба (drebna kražba)theft
Dutch kruimeldiefstal
- kruimeldiefstaltheft
Finnish näpistely
- näpistelytheft
French chapardage
- chapardagetheft
Malay pengetekan, kecopetan
- pengetekantheft
- kecopetantheft
Polish podkradanie
- podkradanietheft
Russian разворовывание
- разворовывание (razvorovyvanije)theft
Cite this entry
APA
pilferage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilferage
MLA
“pilferage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilferage. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pilferage,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilferage.
Source: pilferage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.