Adjacent Words

Steal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STEAL, v.t. pret. stole; pp. stolen, stole. [G. L, to take, to lift.]
1. To take and carry away feloniously, as the personal goods of another. To constitute stealing or theft, the taking must be felonious, that is, with an intent to take what belongs to another, and without his consent.
Let him that stole, steal no more. Ephesians 4.
2. To Withdraw or convey without notice or clandestinely.
They could insinuate and steal themselves under the same by submission.
3. To gain or win by address or gradual and imperceptible means.
Variety of objects has a tendency to steal away the mind from its steady pursuit of any subject.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 1 Samuel 15.
STEAL, v.i.
1. To withdraw or pass privily; to slip along or away unperceived.
Fixed of mind to fly all company, one night she stole away.
From whom you now must steal and take no leave.
A soft and solemn breathing sound rose like a steam of rich distilld perfumes, and stole upon the air.
2. To practice theft; to take feloniously. He steals for a livelihood.
Thou shalt not steal. Exodus 20.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an advantageous purchase; "she got a bargain at the auction"; "the stock was a real buy at that price" [syn: bargain, buy, steal]
2: a stolen base; an instance in which a base runner advances safely during the delivery of a pitch (without the help of a hit or walk or passed ball or wild pitch) v
1: take without the owner's consent; "Someone stole my wallet on the train"; "This author stole entire paragraphs from my dissertation"
2: move stealthily; "The ship slipped away in the darkness" [syn: steal, slip]
3: steal a base

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (stole; stolen; stealing) Etymology: Middle English stelen, from Old English stelan; akin to Old High German stelan to steal Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to take the property of another wrongfully and especially as a habitual or regular practice 2. to come or go secretly, unobtrusively, gradually, or unexpectedly 3. to steal or attempt to steal a base transitive verb 1. a. to take or appropriate without right or leave and with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully <stole a car> b. to take away by force or unjust means <they've stolen our liberty> c. to take surreptitiously or without permission <steal a kiss> d. to appropriate to oneself or beyond one's proper share ; make oneself the focus of <steal the show> 2. a. to move, convey, or introduce secretly ; smuggle b. to accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner <steal a visit> 3. a. to seize, gain, or win by trickery, skill, or daring <a basketball player adept at stealing the ball> <stole the election> b. of a base runner to reach (a base) safely solely by running and usually catching the opposing team off guard • stealable adjective • stealer noun Synonyms: steal, pilfer, filch, purloin mean to take from another without right or without detection. steal may apply to any surreptitious taking of something and differs from the other terms by commonly applying to intangibles as well as material things <steal jewels> <stole a look at the gifts>. pilfer implies stealing repeatedly in small amounts <pilfered from his employer>. filch adds a suggestion of snatching quickly and surreptitiously <filched an apple from the tray>. purloin stresses removing or carrying off for one's own use or purposes <printed a purloined document>. II. noun Date: circa 1825 1. the act or an instance of stealing 2. a fraudulent or questionable political deal 3. bargain 2 <it's a steal at that price>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (past stole; past part. stolen) 1 tr. (also absol.) a take (another person's property) illegally. b take (property etc.) without right or permission, esp. in secret with the intention of not returning it. 2 tr. obtain surreptitiously or by surprise (stole a kiss). 3 tr. a gain insidiously or artfully. b (often foll. by away) win or get possession of (a person's affections etc.), esp. insidiously (stole her heart away). 4 intr. (foll. by in, out, away, up, etc.) a move, esp. silently or stealthily (stole out of the room). b (of a sound etc.) become gradually perceptible. 5 tr. a (in various sports) gain (a run, the ball, etc.) surreptitiously or by luck. b Baseball reach (a base) by deceiving the fielders. --n. 1 US colloq. the act or an instance of stealing or theft. 2 colloq. an unexpectedly easy task or good bargain. Phrases and idioms: steal a march on get an advantage over by surreptitious means; anticipate. steal the show outshine other performers, esp. unexpectedly. steal a person's thunder use another person's words, ideas, etc., without permission and without giving credit. Derivatives: stealer n. (also in comb.). Etymology: OE stelan f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Steal Steal, n. [See Stale a handle.] A handle; a stale, or stele. [Archaic or Prov. Eng.] And in his hand a huge poleax did bear. Whose steale was iron-studded but not long. --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Steal Steal, v. t. [imp. Stole; p. p. Stolen; p. pr. & vb. n. Stealing.] [OE. stelen, AS. stelan; akin to OFries. stela, D. stelen, OHG. stelan, G. stehlen, Icel. stela, SW. stj["a]la, Dan. sti[ae]le, Goth. stilan.] 1. To take and carry away, feloniously; to take without right or leave, and with intent to keep wrongfully; as, to steal the personal goods of another. Maugre thy heed, thou must for indigence Or steal, or borrow, thy dispense. --Chaucer. The man who stole a goose and gave away the giblets in ?lms. --G. Eliot. 2. To withdraw or convey clandestinely (reflexive); hence, to creep furtively, or to insinuate. They could insinuate and steal themselves under the same by their humble carriage and submission. --Spenser. He will steal himself into a man's favor. --Shak. 3. To gain by insinuating arts or covert means. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. --2 Sam. xv. 6. 4. To get into one's power gradually and by imperceptible degrees; to take possession of by a gradual and imperceptible appropriation; -- with away. Variety of objects has a tendency to steal away the mind from its steady pursuit of any subject. --I. Watts. 5. To accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner; to try to carry out secretly; as, to steal a look. Always, when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, . . . and do not think to steal it. --Bacon. To steal a march, to march in a covert way; to gain an advantage unobserved; -- formerly followed by of, but now by on or upon, and sometimes by over; as, to steal a march upon one's political rivals. She yesterday wanted to steal a march of poor Liddy. --Smollett. Fifty thousand men can not easily steal a march over the sea. --Walpole. Syn: To filch; pilfer; purloin; thieve.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Steal Steal, v. i. 1. To practice, or be guilty of, theft; to commit larceny or theft. Thou shalt not steal. --Ex. xx. 15. 2. To withdraw, or pass privily; to slip in, along, or away, unperceived; to go or come furtively. --Chaucer. Fixed of mind to avoid further entreaty, and to fly all company, one night she stole away. --Sir P. Sidney. From whom you now must steal, and take no leave. --Shak. A soft and solemn breathing sound Rose like a steam of rich, distilled perfumes, And stole upon the air. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stale Stale, n. [OE. stale, stele, AS. st[ae]l, stel; akin to LG. & D. steel, G. stiel; cf. L. stilus stake, stalk, stem, Gr. ? a handle, and E. stall, stalk, n.] The stock or handle of anything; as, the stale of a rake. [Written also steal, stele, etc.] But seeling the arrow's stale without, and that the head did go No further than it might be seen. --Chapman.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(steals, stealing, stole, stolen) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you steal something from someone, you take it away from them without their permission and without intending to return it. He was accused of stealing a small boy's bicycle... Bridge stole the money from clients' accounts... People who are drug addicts come in and steal... She has since been jailed for six months for stealing from the tills. VERB: V n, V n from n, V, V-ing • stolen We have now found the stolen car. ADJ 2. If you steal someone else's ideas, you pretend that they are your own. A writer is suing director Steven Spielberg for allegedly stealing his film idea... VERB: V n 3. If someone steals somewhere, they move there quietly, in a secret way. (LITERARY) They can steal away at night and join us... Leroy stole up the hall to the parlor. to steal a glance: see glance to steal a march on someone: see march to steal the show: see show to steal someone's thunder: see thunder VERB: V adv/prep, V adv/prep

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Purloin, pilfer, filch, poach, peculate, embezzle, swindle, make off with, come unlawfully by. 2. Allure, win, gain, draw over. 3. Convey secretly. 4. Take secretly, accomplish secretly. II. v. n. 1. Pilfer, purloin, thieve, practise theft, take feloniously. 2. Pass stealthily, go unperceived, withdraw privily.

Moby Thesaurus

abstract, acquire, adopt, advantageous purchase, and, annex, appropriate, assume, bag, bargain, boost, borrow, burglarize, burglary, buy, cabbage, caper, catch up, claim, clap hands on, clasp, claw, clench, clinch, clout, clutch, collar, coon, cop, copy, couch, crawl, creep, crib, crook, defraud, derive from, drain off, draw off, embezzle, embrace, extort, filch, fleece, frisk, get, get away with, get hold of, glide, glom on to, go on tiptoe, good buy, good pennyworth, grab, grab hold of, grapple, grasp, grip, gripe, grovel, gumshoe, heist, hijack, hoist, hook, hug, imitate, inch, inch along, infringe, job, larceny, lay hands on, lay hold of, lay wait, liberate, lie in wait, lift, loot, lurk, make off with, make use of, misappropriate, mock, mooch, mouse, nab, nail, nick, nightwalk, nip, nip up, pad, palm, partake, peculate, pennyworth, pilfer, pillage, pinch, pirate, plagiarize, plunder, poach, pocket, possess, prig, prowl, purloin, purloining, pussyfoot, receive, rifle, rip-off, rob, robbery, run away with, rustle, scrabble, scramble, scrounge, seize, shadow, shanghai, shirk, shoplift, sidle, simulate, skulk, slide, slink, slip, snake, snap up, snare, snatch, sneak, snitch, stalk, steal along, stealage, stealing, swindle, swipe, take, take away, take by assault, take by storm, take hold of, take on, take over, take possession, theft, thieve, thievery, thieving, tippytoe, tiptoe, touch, usurp, vulture, walk off with, whip up, worm, worm along