Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. shoplifting.

1926		D. Hammett ‘Assistant Murderer’ in Nightmare Town (2001) 140: ‘Boosting, dearie’ Minnie said [...] ‘You think I’ve been shoplifting? Is that the idea?’.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1956		J. Blake letter 5 Dec. in Joint (1972) 98: Boosting is shot to hell. Everybody has climbed into that act.
1969		B. Jackson Thief’s Primer 55: boosting: shoplifting. Sam says, ‘To me, boosting is what you can pick up with somebody watching you, or as soon as they blink their eyes, you cover something and go on out. But whenever you start carrying out a stereo or something like that, I would consider that just stealing.’.
1972		O. Hawkins Ghetto Sketches 127: We had to pay for that damn ham . . . which makes it [...] a helluva lot different from boostin’.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 12: Then there was boostin’ in department stores.
1983		N. Heard House of Slammers 89: The numbers were in, there was no games of Skin, / And boostin’ was in the deep freeze.
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 315: Boosting was not his hustle and now he’s on probation for it.
2008		W.D. Myers Game 131: [H]e took money from shorties and did some boosting down on 1-2-5.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 32/1: Boosting-Ben. A shoplifter’s coat, often tailored to provide ample space for thief’s hooks and stolen goods.
1961		L. Block Diet of Treacle (2008) 181: Shank would find himself a gig again, a pushing gig or a boosting gig.

3. general theft.

1969		B. Jackson Thief’s Primer 86: That boosting is a funny business anyhow.
1990		R. Campbell Sweet La-La Land (1999) 98: Something. Shoplifting. Car boosting. Something.