/ stiːl; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb ( stole / stəʊl; NAmE stoʊl/ stolen / ˈstəʊlən; NAmE ˈstoʊ-/)
1.
steal (sth) (from sb/sth) to take sth from a person, shop / store, etc. without permission and without intending to return it or pay for it :
[ v ]
We found out he'd been stealing from us for years.
[ vn ]
My wallet was stolen.
I had my wallet stolen .
Thieves stole jewellery worth over £10 000.
It's a crime to handle stolen goods.
( figurative )
to steal sb's ideas
2.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] to move secretly and quietly so that other people do not notice you
SYN creep :
She stole out of the room so as not to wake the baby.
( figurative )
A chill stole over her body.
3.
[ vn ] ( in baseball ) to run to the next base before another player from your team hits the ball, so that you are closer to scoring :
He tried to steal second base but was out.
•
IDIOMS
- steal a glance / look (at sb/sth)
- steal sb's heart
- steal a kiss (from sb)
- steal a march (on sb)
- steal the show
- steal sb's thunder
■ noun
( NAmE ) ( in baseball ) the act of running to another base while the pitcher is throwing the ball
•
IDIOMS
- be a steal
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English stelan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stelen and German stehlen .