pelf

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.3 Quotations

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Old French pelfre, "booty, stolen goods." It is related to pilfer.

[edit] Noun

pelf (uncountable)

1. (archaic) money; riches; gain; especially when dishonestly acquired

[edit] Quotations

• . . . a master manipulator who will twist and dodge around the clock to keep the privileges of power and pelf. --Nick Cohen, "Without prejudice," The Observer, February 20, 2000
• She writes about those she might have known first-hand: teenage girls cowering in bunkers . . . friends making promises they can never keep . . . rich folk fattened on wartime pelf, poor folk surviving by wit alone. --Harriet P. Gross, "Author roots her stories in Vietnam War," Dallas Morning News, July 20, 1997
• As so often happens, pelf is talking louder than principle at the Colorado legislature. --"Legislature Goes Belly Up," Denver Rocky Mountain News, April 27, 1997
• In advertising, show business, and journalism, people work themselves to the nub for glitz and glory more than for pelf. --Ford S. Worthy, "You're Probably Working Too Hard," Fortune, April 27, 1987
• Some of the rich classmates were keeping their pelf to themselves. --Nicholas von Hoffman, "The Class of '43 Is Puzzled," The Atlantic, October 1968
• I tell you it's not the agent, it's Giles who wants the pelf -- Isaac Asimov, "Murder at the ABA" 1976