thief in the night

noun
/θiːf ɪn ðə naɪt/

Etymology

A calque from Ancient Greek κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί (kléptēs en nuktí).

Definitions

  1. Something stealthy or that occurs without warning.

    • For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for thief in the night. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA