How to Use shoplift in a Sentence

shoplift

verb
  • The kids shoplifted candy from the store.
  • The manager saw the kids shoplift and called the police.
  • She is charged with theft by shoplifting.
    — Cbs News Atlanta Digital Team, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Hamas was not in Israel to shoplift.
    — Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Stop & Shop has also been hit hard by shoplifting.
    — Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Is there a general age range for people who are shoplifting at your store?
    — Ali Francis, Bon Appétit, 21 Feb. 2023
  • Will people be more likely to shoplift if there are few or no employees in a store?
    — Emily Matchar, Smithsonian, 2 Feb. 2018
  • Vandegriff said the goal was to send a message to people who shoplift and use weapons.
    — Devin Kelly, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Dec. 2017
  • In her teens, she was arrested for shoplifting and sent to reform schools.
    — Joe Coscarelli, New York Times, 27 July 2023
  • Wilson had shoplifted there at least five times before, the man told police.
    — Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2025
  • The caller stopped a man from shoplifting and admonished him.
    — Nollyanne Delacruz, Mercury News, 9 June 2026
  • Is shoplifting legal if enough people start doing it?
    — Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 23 Feb. 2026
  • The shop has a full-time security guard because so many people try to shoplift.
    — New York Times, 5 June 2022
  • Stevens said his client was in the store and in the process of selecting an item to purchase and hadn't shoplifted.
    — Aimee Green, OregonLive.com, 16 Oct. 2017
  • She was caught attempting to shoplift silver jewelry and spent a night in jail.
    — Marsha Mercer, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 May 2018
  • Officers told the men that police had gotten a call about three black men shoplifting.
    — Rachel Rice, ajc, 8 May 2018
  • Lessons on how to break into cars eventually progressed to how to shoplift.
    — Monroe Trombly, The Enquirer, 29 Oct. 2022
  • Most cases are shoplifting, assault or petty theft.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 9 June 2026
  • The only crime that has seen a spike is shoplifting, with a 24 percent increase.
    — Leigh Ann Caldwell, Washington Post, 31 July 2024
  • There was no indication the man had been shoplifting, the spokesperson added.
    — Elizabeth Keogh, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2024
  • One answer is that if everyone were to shoplift at their pleasure, the retail system would break down.
    — Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 2 June 2023
  • But instead of helping each other break their bad habits, the girls decide to team up and shoplift together.
    — Jasmine Gomez, Seventeen, 17 June 2019
  • Despite the changes, some residents have concerns about shoplifting.
    — CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Roughly 1 in 20 consumers have shoplifted within the past year.
    — Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024
  • But the trial judge ruled that the charges could be reclassified as shoplifting under Prop.
    — Bob Egelko, SFChronicle.com, 2 Mar. 2020
  • What happened to the man who shoplifted a calendar on New Year’s Eve?
    — Hannah Jeon, Good Housekeeping, 26 Nov. 2019
  • The victim confronted the suspect while the suspect was shoplifting.
    — Anne Gelhaus, The Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2024
  • There were reports of these same women shoplifting at Kohl’s stores in Delafield and Neenah.
    — Milwaukee, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Dec. 2017
  • Auburn fired him in 1970 after he was caught shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent.
    — CBS News, 26 Apr. 2018
  • She was put on probation for shoplifting $7 worth of food and two pairs of underwear from a Walmart.
    — Akiva Freidlin, Slate Magazine, 19 Apr. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shoplift.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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