Steal
Origin
From Middle English stelen, from Old English stelan, from Proto-Germanic *stelanÄ… (compare West Frisian stelle, Low German stehlen, Dutch stelen, German stehlen, Danish stjæle, Norwegian stjele), either from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (compare Welsh herw ("theft, raid"), Ancient Greek στεÏÎω (stereÅ, "to deprive of"))
J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, s.v. "steal" (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999), 543.
or Proto-Indo-European*stel(H)- ("to stretch") (compare Albanian pë/mbështjell ("I confuse, mess up, mix, wrap up") , Old Church Slavonic (steljÇ«, "I spread out (bed, roof)"), Ancient Greek τηλία (tÄ“lÃa, "playing table"))
Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.v. "stelanan" (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003), 374.
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Full definition of steal
Verb
- (transitive) To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else.Three irreplaceable paintings were stolen from the gallery.
- (transitive, of ideas, words, music, a look, credit, etc) To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.They stole my idea for a biodegradable, disposable garbage de-odorizer.
- (transitive) To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully.He stole glances at the pretty woman across the street.
- I. WattsVariety of objects has a tendency to steal away the mind from its steady pursuit of any subject.
- Francis BaconAlways, when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, ... and do not think to steal it.
- (transitive, colloquial) To acquire at a low price.He stole the car for two thousand less than its book value.
- (transitive) To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.
- (intransitive) To move silently or secretly.He stole across the room, trying not to wake her.
- 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1"Did he take his bottle well?" Mrs. Flanders whispered, and Rebecca nodded and went to the cot and turned down the quilt, and Mrs. Flanders bent over and looked anxiously at the baby, asleep, but frowning. The window shook, and Rebecca stole like a cat and wedged it.
- 2011, October 23, Phil McNulty, Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City, United's hopes of mounting a serious response suffered a blow within two minutes of the restart when Evans, who had endured a miserable afternoon, lost concentration and allowed Balotelli to steal in behind him. The defender's only reaction was to haul the Italian down, resulting in an inevitable red card.
- To withdraw or convey (oneself) clandestinely.
- SpenserThey could insinuate and steal themselves under the same by their humble carriage and submission.
- ShakespeareHe will steal himself into a man's favour.
- (transitive, baseball) 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.
- (sports, transitive) To dispossess
- 2011, February 12, Les Roopanarine, Birmingham 1 - 0 Stoke, However, until Gardner stole the ball from Dean Whitehead in the centre circle with the half-hour approaching, setting off on a run which culminated with a testing long-range shot - with debutant Obafemi Martins lurking, Begovic gathered at the second time of asking - Stoke looked the more credible contenders to break the deadlock.
Synonyms
Troponyms
Noun
steal
(plural steals)- The act of stealing.
- A piece of merchandise available at a very attractive price.At this price, this car is a steal.
- (basketball, ice hockey) A situation in which a defensive player actively takes possession of the ball or puck from the opponent's team.
- (baseball) A stolen base.
- (curling) Scoring in an end without the hammer.
- (computing) A policy in database systems that a database follows which allows a transaction to be written on nonvolatile storage before its commit occurs
Synonyms
- (merchandise available at a very attractive price) bargain