4.3 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 30 July 2023
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 30, 2023 is:
filch • \FILCH\ • verb
To filch something is to secretly or casually steal it. The word filch also usually, though not always, implies that what has been stolen is small or of little monetary value.
// I couldn’t help but chuckle when I woke up to find my four-year-old daughter filching a cookie from the plate on the kitchen counter.
Examples:
“Distillery employees filched more than $100,000 of the most famous name in rare bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle, to resell, a 2013 caper that has been dubbed ‘Pappygate.’” — Justin Jouvenal, The Washington Post, 20 Sept. 2022
Did you know?
The award-winning 2019 video game Untitled Goose Game, in which players control the titular (or “un-titular”?) waterfowl through several levels of light and family-friendly mayhem, serves as an excellent primer on the meaning of filch. In fact, many of the game’s objectives involve waddling furtively around a quaint little scene, such as a garden, and trying to avoid detection by humans while you pilfer, say, a pumpkin or a woolen hat. To filch is to steal something (usually, though not always, a small or relatively unimportant something) in secret. So why not just use steal? There’s often a distinct twang of humor or mischievousness in filch that’s not inherent in plain old steal, and that reflects a casualness or nonchalance on the part of the silly goose—whether literal or figurative—snatching the pie from the windowsill.
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
0:00.0 | It's Merriam Webster's Word of the Day for July 30th. |
0:11.4 | Today's word is filch, spelled F-I-L-C-H. Filch is a verb. |
0:16.8 | To filch something is to secretly or casually steal it. |
0:20.7 | The word filch, also usually, though not always, implies that what has been stolen is small |
0:25.8 | or of little monetary value. |
0:28.4 | Here's the word used in a sentence from the Washington Post by Justin Juvenile. |
0:33.6 | Distillery employees filched more than $100,000 of the most famous name in Rare Bourbon, |
0:40.5 | Pappy Van Winkle, to resell a 2013 paper that has been dubbed Pappygate. |
0:47.4 | The award-winning 2019 video game, Untitled Goose Game, in which players control the titular |
0:53.5 | or untitular waterfowl through several levels of light and family-friendly mayhem, serves |
1:00.6 | as an excellent primer on the meaning of the word filch. |
1:04.6 | In fact, many of the game's objectives involve waddling furtively around a quaint little |
1:10.3 | scene, such as a garden, and trying to avoid detection by humans while you pilfer, say, |
1:16.5 | a pumpkin or a woolen hat. |
1:19.0 | To filch is to steal something, usually, though not always, a small or relatively unimportant |
1:24.5 | something in secret. |
1:26.7 | So why not just use the word steal? |
1:29.6 | There's often a distinct twang of humor or mischievousness in the word filch that's |
1:34.4 | not inherent in plain old steel, and that reflects a casualness or nonshellance on the part |
1:40.4 | of the silly goose, whether literal or figurative, snatching the pie from the window sill. |
1:47.1 | With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Merriam-Webster, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Merriam-Webster and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.