Other forms: shoplifting; shoplifted; shoplifts
When a customer in a store pretends to browse but actually slips items into their bag or pocket, they shoplift.
Historians trace the first documented shoplifting to London during the 16th century. And although people certainly stole things before that, the act of surreptitiously lifting goods from store shelves hadn't been described as shoplifting before that. Today, big chains expect that a certain number of customers will shoplift — though they work to prevent it using things like cameras, dyepacks, and security guards — and describe the losses caused by it as "shrinkage."