shop steal

verb

To shoplift.

“If you detect a person shop stealing, report it to the police.”

Meanings

verbshop steal (third-person singular simple present shop steals, present participle shop stealing, simple past shop stole, past participle shop stolen)

present singular third person shop steals · participle present shop stealing · past shop stole · participle past shop stolen · alternative shopsteal

  1. AustraliaTo shoplift.

    If you detect a person shop stealing, report it to the police.

    2 more examples

    For example, shop stealing cases of the kind already described are regularly dealt with at the scene and, afterwards, at a police station without any involvement of parents or guardians.

    1983, John A. Seymour, Juvenile Justice in South Australia, page 15

    I have also in the past had court orders taken out on our known shop stealing customers to prevent them from entering my store.

    2001 April 25, Doggy, “Bag Search Refusal”, in aus.legal^([https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/aus.legal/5DP9odlSr10[1-25]]) (Usenet)

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

shop steal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shop%20steal

MLA

“shop steal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shop%20steal. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shop steal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shop%20steal.

Source: shop steal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.