[f. prec. + -ER1.] One who filches; a petty thief, pilferer.
1575. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 25.
| Beware raskabilia, slothfull to wurke, | |
| purloiners and filchers, that loueth to lurke. |
1621. Molle, Camerar. Liv. Libr., I. xii. 39. Begins to fall upon these filchers, and to lay at them with her fist.
1702. W. J., Bruyn’s Voy. Levant, xxxviii. 152. The Arabians are the greatest Filchers in the World.
1860. J. P. Kennedy, Swallow B., xxxviii. 376. A filcher of caps and napkins from a washerwoman’s basket.
Hence Filchery, the art or practice of a filcher.
1607. R. C[arew], trans. H. Estienne’s World of Wonders, xv. 82. Moe feates of filchery and cunning conueyance.
