steal

Meaning

Verb

1. To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
2. To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.
3. To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully.
4. (colloquial) To acquire at a low price.
5. To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.
6. To move silently or secretly.
7. To convey (something) clandestinely.
8. To withdraw or convey (oneself) clandestinely.
9. 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. To dispossess
11. (informal) To borrow for a short moment.
12. (informal) take, plagiarize, tell on a joke, use a well-worded expression in one's own parlance or writing

Noun

1. The act of stealing.
2. (slang) A piece of merchandise available at a very low, attractive price.
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.

Concepts

steal

rob

pilfer

filch

plunder

pinch

purloin

thieve

snatch

nick

theft

take away

swipe

take

kidnap

loot

embezzle

burgle

snitch

creep

larceny

sneak

abstract

misappropriate

carry off

lift

slip

bargain

make off with

cheat

cop

slink

steal from

stealing

pillage

strip

abduct

burglarize

rifle

crib

slide

seize

catch

stalk

still hunt

make away with

carry away

thief

detect

bare

clear

deprive

discover

expose

peel

shell

skin

starve

uncover

nip

grab

rip off

burglar

ransack

abscond

conceal

mooch

buy

lurk

rip

snaffle

grasp

robbery

thievery

pick

bag

shoplift

swindle

rustle

despoil

pocket

deprive of

bewitch

charm

dazzle

delight

thrill

help oneself to

plagiarize

commit larceny

break in

hold up

stolen goods

do covertly

do secretly

go stealthily

hide

crook

heist

liberate

raid

half inch

spoil

be crooked

cabbage

glom

gumshoe

gyp

hoist

hook

nab

nap

nobble

panhandle

prig

sharp

slip off

smug

snoop

souvenir

tiptoe

rob of

break away

escape

get away

run away

frisk

defalcate

scrounge

piracy

stealth

theft and pilferage

of steal

cut

tear away

be stolen

snatch away

run away with

press

pickpocket

find

creep in

slip on

help

relieve

bear away

bring

carry

convey

draw

export

get

lead

move

occupy

post

run

set down

take up

shake

defraud

deprive … of

do

dupe

screw

sting

trick

drag

make disappear

capture

corruption

secretly

stealthily

pilferage

blow

learn

despoilment

damage

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stiːl/

Etymology

From Middle English stelen, from Old English stelan, from Proto-West Germanic *stelan, from Proto-Germanic *stelaną.
Compare West Frisian stelle, Low German stehlen, Dutch stelen, German stehlen, Danish stjæle, Swedish stjäla, Norwegian Bokmål stjele, Norwegian Nynorsk stela, Sanskrit स्तेय (steya); see below for more.
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"