Definition of clifty in English:
clifty
verbcliftying, cliftied, clifties ˈklɪfti
[with object]Australian dated, informal Steal or take without permission.
he had a primus he'd cliftied from one of the officers
no object Australians called the locals thieves but were guilty of cliftying themselves
Example sentencesExamples
- Every one of these items had been cliftied, and appropriately, the marquee was also illegally acquired.
- A bust of Mussolini was cliftied by their squadron.
- They had an uncanny ability to slit a tent at night in just the right spot to clifty a rifle, ammunition, or other vital equipment.
- One of the mess ornaments was 'Stinky Miller', a skeleton cliftied from a museum.
- Well, cliftying was something we picked up from the people we'd relieved.
- Even the notorious striped sentry box was cliftied from the barracks under cover of glaring headlights.
Synonyms
purloin, thieve, take, take for oneself, help oneself to, loot, pilfer, abscond with, run off with, appropriate, abstract, carry off, shoplift
Origin
Early 20th century: from Greek kleptēs 'thief'.