Definitions for: Steal


[n] an advantageous purchase; "she got a bargain at the auction"; "the stock was a real buy at that price"
[v] steal a base, in baseball
[v] move stealthily; "The ship slipped away in the darkness"
[v] to go stealthily or furtively; "..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house"
[v] take without the owner's consent; "Someone stole my wallet on the train"; "This author stole entire paragraphs from my dissertation"



Webster (1913) Definition: 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.


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.


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.

Synonyms: bargain, buy, creep, mouse, pussyfoot, slip, sneak

See Also: abstract, advance, bag, burglarise, burglarize, burgle, cabbage, cop, defalcate, elapse, embezzle, filch, gain, gain ground, get ahead, glide by, glom, go along, go by, heist, hook, hustle, knock off, lapse, lift, loot, make headway, malversate, misappropriate, move, nobble, pass, peculate, pilfer, pinch, pirate, plagiarise, plagiarize, pluck, plunder, pocket, pull ahead, purchase, purloin, rob, roll, rustle, shoplift, slide by, slip away, slip by, snarf, sneak, sneak away, sneak off, sneak out, snitch, song, steal away, swipe, take, thieve, travel bargain, walk, walk off, win

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