steal

steal (st

v. stole (st

l), sto·len (st

n), steal·ing, steals

v.tr.

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

2. To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully: steal a kiss; stole the ball from an opponent.

3. To move, carry, or place surreptitiously.

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

5. 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.

1. The act of stealing.

2. Slang A bargain.

3. Baseball A stolen base.

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.

[Middle English stelen, from Old English stelan.]

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.

steal

Verb

[stealing, stole, stolen]

1. to take (something) from someone without permission or unlawfully

2. to use (someone else's ideas or work) without acknowledgment

3. to move quietly and carefully, not wanting to be noticed: my father stole up behind her

4. steal the show (of a performer) to draw the audience's attention to oneself and away from the other performers

5. to obtain or do (something) stealthily: I stole a glance behind

Noun

US, Canad & NZ informal something acquired easily or at little cost [Old English stelan]

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	steal - an advantageous purchase; "she got a bargain at the auction"; "the stock was a real buy at that price" buy, bargain purchase - something acquired by purchase song - a very small sum; "he bought it for a song" travel bargain - a bargain rate for travellers on commercial routes (usually air routes)
	2.	steal - 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) baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!"
Verb	1.	steal - take without the owner's consent; "Someone stole my wallet on the train"; "This author stole entire paragraphs from my dissertation" take - take by force; "Hitler took the Baltic Republics"; "The army took the fort on the hill" cabbage, filch, pilfer, purloin, snarf, swipe, abstract, nobble, pinch, sneak, hook, lift - make off with belongings of others rustle, lift - take illegally; "rustle cattle" shoplift - steal in a store pirate - copy illegally; of published material plagiarise, plagiarize, lift - take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property pocket, bag - take unlawfully defalcate, embezzle, malversate, misappropriate, peculate - appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use; "The accountant embezzled thousands of dollars while working for the wealthy family" rob - take something away by force or without the consent of the owner; "The burglars robbed him of all his money" cop, glom, snitch, thieve, knock off, hook - take by theft; "Someone snitched my wallet!" walk off - take without permission; "he walked off with my wife!"; "The thief walked off with my gold watch" pluck, hustle, roll - sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity loot, plunder - take illegally; of intellectual property; "This writer plundered from famous authors" burglarise, burglarize, burgle, heist - commit a burglary; enter and rob a dwelling
	2.	steal - move stealthily; "The ship slipped away in the darkness" slip move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" slip away, sneak away, sneak off, sneak out, steal away - leave furtively and stealthily; "The lecture was boring and many students slipped out when the instructor turned towards the blackboard"
	3.	steal - steal a base baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!" gain ground, get ahead, make headway, pull ahead, win, gain, advance - obtain advantages, such as points, etc.; "The home team was gaining ground"; "After defeating the Knicks, the Blazers pulled ahead of the Lakers in the battle for the number-one playoff berth in the Western Conference"

steal

verb 1. take, nick (slang), chiefly Brit. pinch (informal) lift (informal) cabbage Brit. (slang) swipe (slang) half-inch (old-fashioned), (slang) heist U.S. (slang) embezzle, blag (slang) pilfer, misappropriate, snitch (slang) purloin, filch, prig Brit. (slang) shoplift, thieve, be light-fingered, peculate, walk or make off with

verb 2. copy, take, plagiarize, appropriate, pinch (informal) pirate, poach

verb 3. sneak, slip, creep, flit, tiptoe, slink, insinuate yourself

Translations