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.

Can their pelf prosper, not got by valor or industry? Fuller.

 

© Webster 1913.