thief
    n 1: a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else
         with the intention of keeping it or selling it [syn:
         thief, stealer]

Thief \Thief\ (th[=e]f), n.; pl. Thieves (th[=e]vz). [OE.
   thef, theef, AS. [thorn]e['o]f; akin to OFries. thiaf, OS.
   theof, thiof, D. dief, G. dieb, OHG. diob, Icel.
   [thorn]j[=o]fr, Sw. tjuf, Dan. tyv, Goth. [thorn]iufs,
   [thorn]iubs, and perhaps to Lith. tupeti to squat or crouch
   down. Cf. Theft.]
   1. One who steals; one who commits theft or larceny. See
      Theft.
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            There came a privy thief, men clepeth death.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            Where thieves break through and steal. --Matt. vi.
                                                  19.
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   2. A waster in the snuff of a candle. --Bp. Hall.
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   Thief catcher. Same as Thief taker.

   Thief leader, one who leads or takes away a thief.
      --L'Estrange.

   Thief taker, one whose business is to find and capture
      thieves and bring them to justice.

   Thief tube, a tube for withdrawing a sample of a liquid
      from a cask.

   Thieves' vinegar, a kind of aromatic vinegar for the sick
      room, taking its name from the story that thieves, by
      using it, were enabled to plunder, with impunity to
      health, in the great plague at London. [Eng.]
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   Syn: Robber; pilferer.

   Usage: Thief, Robber. A thief takes our property by
          stealth; a robber attacks us openly, and strips us by
          main force.
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                Take heed, have open eye, for thieves do foot by
                night.                            --Shak.
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                Some roving robber calling to his fellows.
                                                  --Milton.
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Waster \Wast"er\, n. [OE. wastour, OF. wasteor, gasteor. See
   Waste, v. t.]
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   1. One who, or that which, wastes; one who squanders; one who
      consumes or expends extravagantly; a spendthrift; a
      prodigal.
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            He also that is slothful in his work is brother to
            him that is a great waster.           --Prov. xviii.
                                                  9.
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            Sconces are great wasters of candles. --Swift.
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   2. An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to
      waste; -- called also a thief. --Halliwell.
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   3. A kind of cudgel; also, a blunt-edged sword used as a
      foil.
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            Half a dozen of veneys at wasters with a good fellow
            for a broken head.                    --Beau. & Fl.
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            Being unable to wield the intellectual arms of
            reason, they are fain to betake them unto wasters.
                                                  --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.
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THIEF, crimes. One who has been guilty of larceny or theft.