pickpocket

Everyday

1. A thief who steals money, phones or wallets from people's pockets or bags without them noticing, often in crowds. tree →
2. (verb, rare) To steal from someone's pocket in this way. tree →

In the lessons

In safety lessons children learn to keep wallets and phones in front pockets or zipped bags in busy places like trains, markets and festivals, because pickpockets work in crowds. In stories (like Oliver Twist) pickpockets are clever, quick-fingered thieves. Pickpocketing is a crime. In maths a problem might say a pickpocket took some coins, which is subtraction. Phrases: «beware of pickpockets», «a gang of pickpockets».

Examples

• Beware of pickpockets on the crowded train. tree →
• A pickpocket stole Dad's wallet at the market. tree →
• The police caught the pickpocket red-handed. tree →
• Keep your phone in a zipped pocket to stop pickpockets. tree →
• The pickpocket bumped into her and took her purse. tree →
• In the story, a boy is taught to be a pickpocket. tree →
• A pickpocket took 3 of the 10 coins; how many are left? tree →

Note

Countable: pickpockets. One word, no hyphen. The act is «pickpocketing». Stealing is wrong and illegal — the word appears so children can recognise and avoid the trick, not use it.