carpire

From Latin carpō (infinitive carpere).

• IPA^(key): /karˈpi.re/
• Rhymes: -ire
• Hyphenation: car‧pì‧re

carpìre (first-person singular present carpìsco, first-person singular past historic carpìi, past participle carpìto, auxiliary avére) (transitive)

1. (literary) to strip off or away, often by deceit
2. (figurative, by extension) to obtain with cunning or deceit; to do out of; to steal; to snatch
   • 2019, George Orwell, translated by Nicola Gardini, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mondadori:

     Per quanto astuti, non avevano ancora inventato una tecnica per carpire il pensiero di un altro essere umano.

     With all their cleverness they had never mastered the secret of finding out what another human being was thinking.

     (literally, “As astute as they are, they had not yet invented a technique to obtain the thought of another human being.”)

3. (archaic or central Italy) to catch; to grab

   Synonyms: prendere, raccogliere; see also Thesaurus:afferrare

• Pirreca, precari