Opinion of the Court
read in a similar manner to its companions. See McDonnell, 579 U. S., at 568–569. “Uses” is quite amenable to such a reading, and not just because of its indeterminacy. As explained above, “using” another person’s means of identification to deceive or defraud is a common feature of identity theft. See Webster’s xi (“the fraudulent … use” of a means of identification (emphasis added)); Black’s 894 (when a defendant “uses the information to deceive others” (emphasis added)).
Congress thus employed a trio of verbs that capture various aspects of “classic identity theft.” Flores-Figueroa, 556 U. S., at 656. There is “the defendant [who] has gone through someone else’s trash to find discarded credit card and bank statements,” ibid., and thus has taken possession unlawfully. There is the bank employee who passes along customer information to an accomplice, and thus transfers it unlawfully. Then there is use involving fraud or deceit about identity: “a defendant [who] has used another person’s identification information to get access to that person’s bank account.” Ibid.
Another canon of construction offers a further point in favor of this narrow interpretation. The Court “assume[s] that Congress used [three] terms because it intended each term to a have a particular, nonsuperfluous meaning.” Bailey, 516 U. S., at 146. Reading §1028A(a)(1)’s operative verbs as tracking aspects of classic identity theft, each verb has an independent role to play. As the definitions reveal, identity theft covers both when “someone steals personal information about and belonging to another … and uses the information to deceive others,” Black’s 894 (emphasis added), and “fraudulent appropriation and use,” Webster’s xi (emphasis added). Identity theft thus intermingles aspects of theft and fraud, misappropriation and deceitful use. Section 1028A(a)(1)’s three verbs capture this complexity. While “transfer” and “possess” conjure up two steps of theft, “uses” supplies the deceitful use aspect.
