Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(a) (Und.) to shoplift; in weak use, to steal [hoist n. (1)].

1895		Truth (Sydney) 5 May 5/7: The three women were very clever in the shop-lifting line, visiting big shops and hoisting silks and other expensive articles.
1904		Number 1500 Life In Sing Sing 259: Hoisting a slab of stones. Stealing a tray of diamonds.
1932		Sun. Mail (Brisbane) 13 Nov. 2/8: No denizen of the underworld has any other name for the purse or wallet but ‘pogue,’ just as he would term relieving a citizen of his watch and chain ‘hoisting a block and tackle’.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 198: It is surprising how bulky an object the cleverer girls can ‘hoist’.
1956		‘Charles Raven’ Und. Nights 119: I kept wondering what I would hoist for my wedding dress.
1970		G.F. Newman Sir, You Bastard 42: We’ve got a list of gear you’ve hoisted.
1982		G. Newbold Big Huey 67: Bopped-up short-sleeve shirts [...] were in great demand, as were white kitchen tee shirts, which used to get hoisted from the laundry.
1985		R.G. Barrett You Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids (1989) 90: If ever the thieves [...] hoisted any ouzo or zambuka Les would get it at the right price.

(b) to break into, to rob.

1859		Matsell Vocabulum 42: hoist To rob houses by climbing into a window. It is generally done by two or three fellows, one of whom stands close to the house, and the others climb up to the window.
1928		Phila. Eve. Bulletin 5 Oct. 40/4: Here are a few more terms and definitions from the ‘Racket’ vocabulary: [...] ’hoist,’ to commit highway robbery.
1949		A. Hynd We Are the Public Enemies 83: Twenty years ago, all a man like Floyd had to do was to hoist a jug in one state, then head across the nearest boundary line and lie low.
1950		S.J. Baker in Sun. Herald (Sydney) 8 June 9/5: Other English incorporations [in Australian slang] include: [...] ‘hoist,’ to steal.
1953		L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 287: I got some quinine pills. I hoisted them from sick bay.
1959		‘Paul Merchant’ ‘Sex Gang’ in Pulling a Train’ (2012) [ebook] They mugged lushes, picked up sailors and hoisted their kicks.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Hoist. To steal.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 88/1: hoist v. to rob, hold up, burgle.

(c) (Aus./US) to kick or thrash someone.

1856		Melbourne Punch 20 Nov. 3/3: ‘Proposals for a New Slang Dictionary’ [...] HYSTE Verb particularly active. To toss as Sancho Panza, to kick to pitch (out at window), to shove (down stairs), to give a lift either the side of the head or otherwise, to slip into to administer a slockdolager, &c.
1894		F.P. Dunne in Schaaf Mr Dooley’s Chicago (1977) 110: I thought me friend Casey’d be taken up f’r histin’ a policeman.

(d) (US Und., also hyste) to commit an armed robbery or a hold-up.

1928		R.J. Tasker Grimhaven 159: Jockey [...] went up to the big house for hysting a dice game.
1930		D. Ahearn How to Commit a Murder 67: If depositers come in, you take them too, and hoist them.
1993		G. Disher Deathdeal [ebook] ‘We’ve been tracking you since you hoisted that payroll’.

(e) (UK Und.) to be arrested.

2001

K. Sampson Outlaws (ms.) 169: How could I look Marie [...] in the eye if Moby got shot and I never, or he got hoist or whatever?