Pelf

Pelf
Pelf Pelf, n. [OE. pelfir booty, OF. pelfre, akin to pelfrer to plunder, and perh. to E. pillage. Cf. {Pilfer}.] Money; riches; lucre; gain; -- generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten or worthless. It has no plural. ``Mucky pelf.'' --Spenser. ``Paltry pelf.'' --Burke. [1913 Webster]

Can their pelf prosper, not got by valor or industry? --Fuller. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Synonyms:
, , , , , (contemptuous term)


Look at other dictionaries:

  • pelf — late 14c., from Anglo Fr. pelf, from O.Fr. pelfre booty, spoils (11c.), of unknown origin, related to PILFER (Cf. pilfer) (q.v.). Meaning money, riches, with a pejorative overtone first recorded c.1500 …   Etymology dictionary

  • pelf — [pelf] n. [ME, akin to (< ?) MFr pelfre, booty] 1. Obs. ill gotten gains; booty 2. money or wealth regarded with contempt …   English World dictionary

  • pelf — /pelf/, n. money or wealth, esp. when regarded with contempt or acquired by reprehensible means. [1300 50; ME < OF pelfre booty] * * * …   Universalium

  • pelf — n. money, riches, wealth (Slang) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • pelf — n British money. An old term, like many others (rhino, spondulicks, etc.) revived in the money conscious environment of the later 1980s. Pelf is from the Middle Eng lish pelfre, related to pilfer and meaning loot. ► Miss Smith ... Cold as the Ice …   Contemporary slang

  • pelf — /pɛlf/ (say pelf) noun money or riches: *When Barry went upon the land / He d small amount of pelf or backing, / He d but a stalwart frame, a brand, / And pluck – this last was never lacking. – jason , bush ballads, n.d. {Middle English, from Old …  

  • pelf — noun money; riches; gain; especially when dishonestly acquired But, sighing after his fancies and visionary pursuits, he rebelled and fled fifty miles away for refuge from the lace caps and powdered wigs of his priggish sitters, and resumed his… …   Wiktionary

  • pelf — noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo French pelfre booty Date: 14th century money, riches …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • PELF — pulse extremely low frequency …   Medical dictionary

  • pelf — Synonyms and related words: affluence, and pence, assets, bottomless purse, bulging purse, capital gains, cash, circulating medium, cleanup, clear profit, coinage, coined liberty, cold cash, currency, debris, dividends, dollars, earnings, easy… …   Moby Thesaurus

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