How to use shoplift in a sentence

10 example sentences · verb, noun

Shoplift means to steal something from a shop or store during business hours, usually by means of hiding merchandise. Example: “"Thomas just got arrested for shoplifting." "Well, I'll go to the foot of the stairs!"”

Examples of shoplift by meaning

verbTo steal something from a shop or store during business hours, usually by means of hiding merchandise.

She taught Maddy to sing in Portuguese, to shoplift mascara, to play a drinking game called Spoons2004 May 17, Andrew Sean Greer, The New Yorker

verbTo steal from shops / stores during trading hours.

Once, before we had juvenile court here, I made the mistake of putting on probation a boy who had shoplifted, a boy of good family.1938 April, William Peery, “Thank Rotary!”, in The Rotarian, page 52
In other words, New York is a better place to shoplift.2002 November 25, The New Yorker

More sentences with shoplift

"Thomas just got arrested for shoplifting." "Well, I'll go to the foot of the stairs!"From the entry I'll go to the foot of the stairs
His criminal record, such as it was, consisted of one shoplifting offense when he was ten.2016, Stephanie Evanovich, chapter 9, in The Total Package: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published 2017, →ISBN, page 143. From the entry baby mamma
Shoplifting is one of the most prevalent crimes and it costs retailers millions of dollars each year.2006, Gennaro F. Vito, Jeffrey R. Maahs, Ronald M. Holmes, Criminology: Theory, Research, And Policy, page 337. From the entry shoplifting
Otherwise known as reverse shoplifting, shopdropping involves surreptitiously putting things in stores, rather than illegally taking them out, and the motivations vary.2007 December 24, Ian Urbina, “Anarchists in the aisles? Stores provide a stage”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York…. From the entry shopdropping
Had the Grievant attempted to pay for the Mylanta or actually paid for it, then she would not be guilty of grazing or shoplifting.2001, Labor Arbitration Information System, volume 2, page 59. From the entry graze
In some cases, offenders are openly clearing shelves of items in full view of customers and shop workers - a tactic sometimes known as "kamikaze" shoplifting.2025 January 30, Cathy Owen, “Kamikaze shoplifting epidemic sees more than 2,000 violent attacks in Wales”, in Wales Online, archived from…. From the entry kamikaze shoplifting
On my first day on the watch after leaving the shoplifting squad I paraded on earlies but had completely forgotten to take my ear ring off.2007, Paul W. Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue, page 193. From the entry early

Meaning of shoplift

verb To steal something from a shop or store during business hours, usually by means of hiding merchandise.
verb To steal from shops / stores during trading hours.
noun A shoplifter.

Full definition of shoplift

Questions about shoplift in a sentence

How do you use shoplift in a sentence?: Shoplift is used as a verb and noun. For example: “"Thomas just got arrested for shoplifting." "Well, I'll go to the foot of the stairs!"”
What is a short sentence with shoplift?: “In other words, New York is a better place to shoplift.”
What does shoplift mean?: Shoplift means to steal something from a shop or store during business hours, usually by means of hiding merchandise.

Adapted from Wiktionary: shoplift (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use shoplift in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/shoplift. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.