The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Thief \Thief\ (th[=e]f), n.; pl. Thieves (th[=e]vz). [OE.
   thef, theef, AS. [thorn]e['o]f; akin to OFries. thiaf, OS.
   theof, thiof, D. dief, G. dieb, OHG. diob, Icel.
   [thorn]j[=o]fr, Sw. tjuf, Dan. tyv, Goth. [thorn]iufs,
   [thorn]iubs, and perhaps to Lith. tupeti to squat or crouch
   down. Cf. Theft.]
   1. One who steals; one who commits theft or larceny. See
      Theft.
      [1913 Webster]

            There came a privy thief, men clepeth death.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            Where thieves break through and steal. --Matt. vi.
                                                  19.
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   2. A waster in the snuff of a candle. --Bp. Hall.
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   Thief catcher. Same as Thief taker.

   Thief leader, one who leads or takes away a thief.
      --L'Estrange.

   Thief taker, one whose business is to find and capture
      thieves and bring them to justice.

   Thief tube, a tube for withdrawing a sample of a liquid
      from a cask.

   Thieves' vinegar, a kind of aromatic vinegar for the sick
      room, taking its name from the story that thieves, by
      using it, were enabled to plunder, with impunity to
      health, in the great plague at London. [Eng.]
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Robber; pilferer.

   Usage: Thief, Robber. A thief takes our property by
          stealth; a robber attacks us openly, and strips us by
          main force.
          [1913 Webster]

                Take heed, have open eye, for thieves do foot by
                night.                            --Shak.
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                Some roving robber calling to his fellows.
                                                  --Milton.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Waster \Wast"er\, n. [OE. wastour, OF. wasteor, gasteor. See
   Waste, v. t.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. One who, or that which, wastes; one who squanders; one who
      consumes or expends extravagantly; a spendthrift; a
      prodigal.
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            He also that is slothful in his work is brother to
            him that is a great waster.           --Prov. xviii.
                                                  9.
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            Sconces are great wasters of candles. --Swift.
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   2. An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to
      waste; -- called also a thief. --Halliwell.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A kind of cudgel; also, a blunt-edged sword used as a
      foil.
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            Half a dozen of veneys at wasters with a good fellow
            for a broken head.                    --Beau. & Fl.
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            Being unable to wield the intellectual arms of
            reason, they are fain to betake them unto wasters.
                                                  --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

thief
    n 1: a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else
         with the intention of keeping it or selling it [syn:
         thief, stealer]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

92 Moby Thesaurus words for "thief":
   Judas, bad person, bandit, betrayer, booster, brigand, buccaneer,
   burglar, cat burglar, cat man, charlatan, cheat, con artist,
   con man, confidence man, convict, corsair, cracksman, criminal,
   crook, cutpurse, dacoit, deceiver, delinquent, desperado,
   desperate criminal, dip, double-dealer, embezzler, evildoer, felon,
   filcher, filibuster, flimflam man, footpad, freebooter, fugitive,
   gallows bird, gangster, gaolbird, gunman, highwayman, hijacker,
   housebreaker, jailbird, kleptomaniac, larcener, larcenist,
   lawbreaker, lifter, malefactor, malevolent, malfeasant, malfeasor,
   marauder, misfeasor, mobster, mountebank, mugger, nip, outlaw,
   peculator, picaroon, pickpocket, pilferer, pirate, plunderer,
   poacher, prig, privateer, public enemy, purloiner, quisling,
   racketeer, robber, ruffian, scofflaw, sea rover, second-story man,
   sharper, shoplifter, sinner, stealer, swindler, thug, traitor,
   transgressor, trickster, two-timer, villain, worker of ill,
   wrongdoer



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

THIEF, crimes. One who has been guilty of larceny or theft.