steal

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
2. (transitive, usually) To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.
3. (transitive) To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully.
4. (figuratively, informal, transitive) To acquire at a low price.
5. (transitive) To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.
6. (intransitive) To move silently or secretly.
7. (transitive) To convey (something) clandestinely.
8. To withdraw or convey (oneself) clandestinely.
9. (transitive) To advance safely to (another base) during the delivery of a pitch, without the aid of a hit, walk, passed ball, wild pitch, or defensive indifference.
10. (transitive) To dispossess
11. (excessive, informal, transitive) To borrow for a short moment.
12. (humorous, informal, transitive) To take or retell someone else’s joke; to use a clever phrase or expression from someone else in one's own speaking or writing.

Noun

1. The act of stealing.
2. (figuratively, slang) A piece of merchandise available at a very low, attractive price; the act of buying it.
3. A situation in which a defensive player actively takes possession of the ball or puck from the opponent's team.
4. A stolen base.
5. Scoring in an end without the hammer.
6. A policy in database systems that a database follows which allows a transaction to be written on nonvolatile storage before its commit occurs.

Opposite of

rip-off

Synonyms

rob

pilfer

filch

plunder

pinch

purloin

thieve

snatch

nick

theft

take away

swipe

take

loot

embezzle

burgle

kidnap

creep

snitch

larceny

sneak

abstract

bargain

carry off

slip

lift

misappropriate

steal from

cop

👮

make off with

pillage

stealing

slink

cheat

crib

rifle

burglarize

make away with

thief

still hunt

strip

catch

stalk

carry away

seize

abduct

slide

buy

🛍️

rip

burglar

Translations

voler

robar

stehlen

rubare

dérober

stelen

roubar

hurtar

klauen

entwenden

furtar

robar

ontvreemden

κλέβω

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stiːl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: stelen

Inherited from Old English: stelan

Cognate with Western Frisian: stelle

Cognate with Low German: stehlen

Cognate with Dutch: stelen

Cognate with German: stehlen

Cognate with Danish: stjæle

Cognate with Swedish: stjäla

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål: stjele

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: stela

Cognate with Sanskrit: स्तेय

Cognate with Welsh: herw

Cognate with Ancient Greek: στερέω

Cognate with Church Slavic: стєлѭ

Cognate with Ancient Greek: τηλία

Cognate with Sanskrit: त्सरति

In summary

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *stelaną
Proto-West Germanic *stelan
Old English stelan
Middle English stelen
English steal
Inherited from Middle English stelen, from Old English stelan, from Proto-West Germanic *stelan, from Proto-Germanic *stelaną.
Cognate with Bavarian stöhn (“to steal”), Dutch stelen (“to steal”), German, Low German stehlen (“to steal”), Luxembourgish stielen (“to steal”), Danish stjæle (“to steal”), Faroese stjala (“to steal”), Icelandic stela (“to steal”), Norwegian Bokmål stjele (“to steal”), Norwegian Nynorsk stela, stele (“to steal”), Swedish stjäla (“to steal”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌽 (stilan, “to steal”). For the meaning development compare with Russian красть (krastʹ, “to steal”) and Russian кра́сться (krástʹsja, “to stalk, to prowl, to slink”).
etymology notes
Proposed etymologies beyond Germanic are numerous and include
* Proto-Indo-European *ster-: compare Welsh herw (“theft, raid”), Ancient Greek στερέω (steréō, “to deprive of”)
* Proto-Indo-European *stel(H)- (“to stretch”): compare Albanian pë/mbështjell (“I confuse, mess up, mix, wrap up”), Old Church Slavonic стєлѭ (steljǫ, “I spread out (bed, roof)”), Ancient Greek τηλία (tēlía, “playing table”)
* Proto-Indo-European *tsel- (“to sneak”): compare Sanskrit त्सरति (tsárati, “creep, sneak up on”) and other forms under Pokorny 5. *sel- "schleichen, kriechen"

Sentences

We didn't steal it .