I. ˈstē(ə)l, ˈstā(ə)l noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English stele stalk, stem, handle, from Old English, stalk, support; akin to Old Norse stjölr hinder part, tail, Greek stelea handle of an axe, stellein to set up, make ready — more at stall
1. dialect Britain : stalk , stem
2. dialect Britain : handle , shaft
II. ˈstēl, esp before pause or consonant -ēəl verb
( stole ˈstōl ; sto·len ˈstōlən sometimes -ln ; or chiefly dialect stole -ōl ; or dialect chiefly British stoun or stown -ōn ; stealing ; steals )
Etymology: Middle English stelen, from Old English stelan; akin to Old High German stelan to steal, Old Norse stela, Gothic stilan, and perhaps to Greek sterein to deprive, bereave, rob, Middle Irish serbh theft
intransitive verb
1. : to practice theft : take the property of another
you shall not steal — Exod 20:15 (Revised Standard Version)
2.
a. : to leave secretly or unobtrusively
he stole quietly out of the picture for ever — Richard Harrison
b. : to move furtively : attempt to come or go without attracting notice
stole over at twilight for an inconspicuous inspection — Margaret Janes
c. : to move, glide, or elapse gently
a tear stole down her cheek
the months stole on
3.
a. : to come upon one gradually or without warning
the white, soft light that steals upon half sleep near morning — Scott Fitzgerald
shall we steal upon them … at supper — Shakespeare
b. : to approach, enter, or take possession by imperceptible degrees
anxiety was stealing over her as if it emanated from her surroundings — Ellen Glasgow
into her cheeks stole a lovely color — Edison Marshall
4. of a base runner : to advance from one base to the next without the aid of a hit or error
are allowed to steal without a signal — M.F.Mallette
transitive verb
1.
a. : to take and carry away feloniously and usually unobserved : take or appropriate without right or leave and with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully
stole a car from a parking lot
stole money from the cash register
who steals my purse steals trash — Shakespeare
b. : to appropriate (as another's conception or invention) and use as one's own
stole the formula and began to manufacture the product himself
: plagiarize
his jokes were borrowed and stolen all over the country — Eleanor M. Sickels
stole nearly all his plots — Agnes de Mille
c. : to take away by force or unjust or underhand means : deprive one of
they've stolen our liberty from us, and we'll never get it back — Kenneth Roberts
had stolen the nomination from him — A.S.Link
d. archaic : abduct , kidnap
such incidents as the child stolen by gypsies — E.A.Poe
e. : to take secretly or without permission
stole a kiss from her before she could protest
f. : to take over : adopt , borrow
the various gyrations have been stolen from boxing, basketball, track — This Week Magazine
g. : to appropriate entirely to oneself or beyond one's proper share
has to occupy the center of the stage and steal the act — Constance Foster
the young ladies steal most of the limelight — O.S.Nock
2.
a. : to move, convey, or introduce secretly : smuggle
stole a hand into hers — Rumer Godden
watching for an opportunity to steal their egg into some nest — John Burroughs
b. : to aim furtively : direct secretly
stole several glances at him with a curiosity very natural under the circumstances — Joseph Conrad
c. : to accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner
might even steal a visit — G.B.Shaw
3. : to use (an interval of time) for an unscheduled, irregular, or secret purpose
felt he was stealing the time and using it for frivolous thoughts — Virginia D. Dawson & Betty D. Wilson
stealing time off from her other clients to flit in and out of the workrooms — P.E.Deutschman
4.
a. : to win away (as by persuasion or deception) : entice
this savage who stole your allegiance from me — T.B.Costain
the obligation to refrain from deliberately stealing each other's clients — H.S.Drinker
b. : to take possession of gradually and imperceptibly : withdraw or remove stealthily — often used with away
shorter wind, paunches, and hardened arteries had begun to steal away their lust for life — Dixon Wecter
5. : to seize, gain, or win by trickery, skill, or daring
a basketball player adept at stealing the ball from his opponents
show folks know how to steal that extra bow — Goodman Ace
a shrewd poker player who steals many pots
as
a. of a base runner : to gain (a base) by running without the aid of a hit or an error
b. baseball : to intercept and interpret correctly (an opponent's signal)
false moves calculated to keep the enemy from stealing the genuine sign — A.J.Daley
c. : to make (a run) in cricket by alert opportunism in circumstances where a run would not ordinarily be attempted
6. of a hen
a. : to make (a nest) in an out-of-the-way place
b. : to make use of (the nest) of another hen
Synonyms:
pilfer , filch , purloin , lift , pinch , snitch , swipe , cop : these have in common the sense of to take another's possession without right, without his knowledge or observation. steal , the commonest and most general of the group, can refer to any act of taking without right although it suggests strongly a furtiveness or secrecy in the act
steal a pocketbook
steal jewels
steal a kiss
steal a glance at someone
pilfer suggests stealing in small amounts
the pantry mouse that pilfers our food — Conservation in the U.S.
the ladies of unexceptionable position who are caught pilfering furs in shops — L.P.Smith
pilfer the secret files of the foreign office — H.J.Morgenthau
filch is close to pilfer but suggests more strongly the use of surreptitious means, especially quick snatching
the pursuit of a thief who had filched an overcoat — McKenzie Porter
a lot of fellows were too hungry to wait, and so some of the rations were filched — Asa Autry
a bulky, dark youth in spectacles … filching biscuits from a large tin — Dorothy Sayers
purloin usually shifts the stress onto the idea of removal or making away with for one's own use, often becoming generalized to include such acts as plundering or plagiarism
had purloined $386,920 from the New York realty management firm for which he worked, then absconded — Time
added theft to her other sin, and having found your watch in your bedroom had purloined it — Samuel Butler †1902
I hope to quote him is not to purloin — John Dryden
lift , when it does not mean specifically to steal by surreptitiously taking from counters or displays in stores, is used frequently in spoken English in the sense of purloin
women shoplifters often work in gangs of three. Two act as shields while the third does the lifting — Irish Digest
lift money from the cash register
imitators who lifted everything except the shirt off his back — Scott Fitzgerald
pinch , swipe , snitch , and cop are virtually interchangeable with filch. pinch and swipe are often used in place of steal to suggest an act morally less reprehensible
loot having been pinched by him from the British ship Mary Dyer — Sydney (Australia) Bulletin
well-dressed crooks really did steal the Gold Cup at Ascot … drove up in a handsome car … and pinched the cup out of the Royal Enclosure — J.D.Carr
the bloke who pinched my photographs — Richard Llewellyn
hovering outside the dying butler's bedroom waiting to … pop in and swipe the old man's private notebooks — Time
snitch possibly stresses more the removal by quick, furtive snatching
while he was bathing, somebody snitched his uniform — P.G.Wodehouse
snitched people's ideas without telling them — Dorothy Sayers
cop usually lays stress upon quick, often spur-of-the-moment filching or purloining
some woman put on a dinner gown, mingled with guests, copped fifty thousand bucks in jewelry — Erle Stanley Gardner
ran home and copped a piece of beefsteak from his old lady — J.T.Farrell
•
- steal a march
- steal one's thunder
III. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : the act or an instance of stealing : theft
his hand went out and picked up the shears as if he had had that steal in mind for many years — Wright Morris
b. : the act or an instance of stealing a base
thrown out on an attempted steal
2. : a fraudulent or questionable political action or deal
this is the real steal of the last 10 years — New Republic
3. : bargain
was prepared to let it go, though it was a steal at the price, for ten dollars — Reed Whittemore