stealer

steal  (stl)

v. stole (stl), sto·len (stln), steal·ing, steals

v.tr.

1. To take (the property of another) without right or permission.

2. To present or use (someone else's words or ideas) as one's own.

3. To get or take secretly or artfully: steal a look at a diary; steal the puck from an opponent.

4. To give or enjoy (a kiss) that is unexpected or unnoticed.

5. To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer: The magician's assistant stole the show with her comic antics.

6. Baseball To advance safely to (another base) during the delivery of a pitch, without the aid of a base hit, walk, passed ball, or wild pitch.

v.intr.

1. To commit theft.

2. To move, happen, or elapse stealthily or unobtrusively.

3. Baseball To steal a base.

n.

1. The act of stealing.

2. Slang A bargain.

3. Baseball A stolen base.

4. Basketball An act of gaining possession of the ball from an opponent.

Idiom:

steal (someone's) thunder

To use, appropriate, or preempt the use of another's idea, especially to one's own advantage and without consent by the originator.

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[Middle English stelen, from Old English stelan.]

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stealer n.

Synonyms: steal, purloin, filch, snitch, pilfer, cop², hook, swipe, lift, pinch
These verbs mean to take another's property wrongfully, often surreptitiously. Steal is the most general: stole a car; steals research from colleagues.
To purloin is to make off with something, often in a breach of trust: purloined the key to his cousin's safe-deposit box.
Filch and snitch often suggest that what is stolen is of little value, while pilfer sometimes connotes theft of or in small quantities: filched towels from the hotel; snitch a cookie; pilfered fruit from the farmer.
Cop, hook, and swipe frequently connote quick, furtive snatching or seizing: copped a necklace from the counter; planning to hook a fur coat; swiped a magazine from the rack.
To lift is to take something surreptitiously and keep it for oneself: a pickpocket who lifts wallets on the subway.
Pinch suggests stealing something by or as if by picking it up between the thumb and the fingers: pinched a dollar from his mother's purse.

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stealer [ˈstiːlə]

n

a.  a person who steals something

b.  (in combination) scene-stealer

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

stealer - a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it thief bandit, brigand - an armed thief who is (usually) a member of a band shoplifter, lifter, booster - a thief who steals goods that are in a store burglar - a thief who enters a building with intent to steal criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw - someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime dacoit, dakoit - a member of an armed gang of robbers defalcator, embezzler, peculator - someone who violates a trust by taking (money) for his own use body snatcher, ghoul, graverobber - someone who takes bodies from graves and sells them for anatomical dissection graverobber - someone who steals valuables from graves or crypts holdup man, stickup man - an armed thief larcener, larcenist - a person who commits larceny cutpurse, pickpocket, dip - a thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places literary pirate, pirate, plagiariser, plagiarist, plagiarizer - someone who uses another person's words or ideas as if they were his own despoiler, freebooter, looter, pillager, plunderer, raider, spoiler - someone who takes spoils or plunder (as in war) robber - a thief who steals from someone by threatening violence cattle thief, rustler - someone who steals livestock (especially cattle) cracksman, safebreaker, safecracker - a thief who breaks open safes to steal valuable contents snatcher - a thief who grabs and runs; "a purse snatcher" pilferer, sneak thief, snitcher - a thief who steals without using violence