sticky finger

Verb

sticky-finger (third-person singular simple present sticky-fingers, present participle sticky-fingering, simple past and past participle sticky-fingered)

1. (idiomatic, informal, transitive) To steal, to pilfer; to make off with (something).
   • […] "picking up" a few essential supplies, writing post-cards, and watching our Cockney comedian soft-soap the sales-girls while he sticky-fingered a few personal necessities.1964, Arch Whitehouse, The fledgling, page 19
2. (transitive) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see sticky, finger. To touch or finger something which is sticky, or with fingers that are sticky.
   • ... drove into town and bought a takeaway at a dingy working-class cafe. Then I drove up Signal Hill and in the stark, early morning light, the bay still covered in mist, watched the sun rise, sticky-fingering sausages and chips in contentment.1987, C. J. Cummings, Too deep then