[Belongs to next vb. It is uncertain whether the sb. in sense 1 was the source of the vb., or derived from it; in the other senses it is f. the vb.]
† 1. A staff with a hook at one end, used to steal articles from hedges, open windows, etc. Obs.
1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, II. i.
| Thus we throw up our Nab-cheats first, for joy, | |
| And then our filches; last, we clap our fambles. |
1632–48. Dekker, Eng. Villanies, M iij/2. [He] carries a short staffe … which is called a Filch.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, A good Filch, a Staff, of Ash or Hazel, with a Hole through, and a Spike at the bottom, to pluck Cloathes from a Hedge or any thing out of a Casement.
1725. in New Cant. Dict.
2. That which is filched or stolen; also, ‘a good taking.’
a. 1627. Middleton, More Dissemblers besides Women, IV. ii.
| This is all you have to do, | |
| Save ev’ry hour a filch or two, | |
| Be it money, cloth or pullen. |
1798. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Tales of Hoy, Wks. 1812, IV. 424. He put a fine parcel of money into the pockets of the proprietors: quite a Filch.
† 3. One who filches or steals; a filcher. Obs.
1775. in Ash.
1810. Poole, Hamlet Travestie, II. iii.s
| A very Filch, that more deserves to hang, | |
| Than any one of the light-finger’d gang. |
4. The action of filching or stealing.
1877. W. H. Thomson, Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iii. 246. She were an out and outer in going into shops on the filch.
