steal
[verb]
Synonyms:
- take, appropriate, embezzle, filch, lift (informal), misappropriate, nick (slang, chiefly Brit.), pilfer, pinch (informal), purloin, thieve
- sneak, creep, slink, slip, tiptoe

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Contrasted words: clump, stamp, stomp, stump
Related Idioms: make off (or away) with, run away (or off) with
Related Words: mooch, fleece, frisk, grab, grasp, seize, snatch, take, plagiarize, hijack, shanghai, poach, rustle, burglarize, rob, loot, plunder, rifle, tiptoe

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English Thesaurus: steal, take, burgle, rob, mug, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. steal¹ S3 W3 /stiːl/ verb (past tense stole /stəʊl $ stoʊl/, past participle stolen /ˈstəʊlən $ ˈstoʊ-/)
[Language: Old English; Origin: stelan]

1. TAKE SOMETHING [intransitive and transitive] to take something that belongs to someone else:
Boys broke into a shop and stole £45 in cash.
steal from
He stole money from his parents.
steal something from somebody/something
He’d stolen the flowers from our garden.

2. USE IDEAS [intransitive and transitive] to use someone else’s ideas without getting permission or without admitting that they are not your own ideas Synonym : pinch:
Inventors know that someone is always going to try to steal their designs.
steal something from somebody
A well-known scientist was accused of stealing his former student’s ideas.

3. MOVE SOMEWHERE [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to move quietly without anyone noticing you Synonym : creep
steal into/across etc
He dressed quietly and stole out of the house.

4. steal the show/limelight/scene to do something, especially when you are acting in a play, that makes people pay more attention to you than to other people:
Elwood stole the show with a marvellous performance.

5. steal a look/glance etc to look at someone or something quickly and secretly

6. SPORT
a) [intransitive and transitive] to run to the next base before someone hits the ball in the sport of baseball
b) [transitive] to suddenly take control of the ball, puck etc when the other team had previously had control of it, for example in basketball or ice hockey:
Roy steals the ball four times in the first half.

7. steal a kiss to kiss someone quickly when they are not expecting it

8. steal a march on somebody to gain an advantage over someone by doing something that they had planned to do before them:
He was afraid another scholar was going to steal a march on him and publish first.

9. steal sb’s thunder to get the success and praise someone else should have got, by doing what they had intended to do

10. steal sb’s heart literary to make someone fall in love with you
⇒ beg, borrow, or steal at beg(8)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. steal² noun [countable]

1. be a steal informal to be very cheap:
an excellent seafood dish that is a steal at $8.25

2. the act of suddenly taking control of the ball when the other team had previously had control of it, especially in basketball:
Johnson had ten points and a steal in the first half.

3. the act of running to the next base before someone hits the ball in the sport of baseball

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

steal
verb
1.
BAD: The bank in our town has been stolen twice this year.
GOOD: The bank in our town has been robbed twice this year.

Usage Note:
rob a bank, post office, etc (NOT steal ): 'Apart from the two cashiers, nobody realized that the bank was being robbed.'

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2.
BAD: If you look wealthy, you are likely to be stolen.
GOOD: If you look wealthy, you are likely to be robbed.

Usage Note:
See note at ROB (rob)

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3.
BAD: After ten years he discovered that his partner had been stealing him.
GOOD: After ten years he discovered that his partner had been stealing from him.

Usage Note:
steal from sb (WITH from ): 'She was found guilty of stealing from her previous employer.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

steal to illegally take something that belongs to someone else:
The thieves stole over £10,000 worth of computer equipment.
Thousands of cars get stolen every year.
take to steal something – used when it is clear from the situation that you mean that someone takes something dishonestly:
The boys broke into her house and took all her money.
They didn’t take much – just a few items of jewellery.
burgle British English, burglarize American English [usually passive] to go into someone’s home and steal things, especially when the owners are not there:
Their house was burgled while they were away.
If you leave windows open, you are asking to be burgled.
rob to steal money or other things from a bank, shop, or person:
The gang were convicted of robbing a bank in Essex.
An elderly woman was robbed at gunpoint in her own home.
He’s serving a sentence for robbing a grocery store.
mug to attack someone in the street and steal something from them:
People in this area are frightened of being mugged when they go out.
Someone tried to mug me outside the station.
nick/pinch British English informal to steal something:
Someone’s nicked my wallet!
When I came back, my car had been pinched.
embezzle to steal money from the organization you work for, especially money that you are responsible for:
Government officials embezzled more than $2.5 million from the department.
shoplifting stealing things from a shop by taking them when you think no one is looking:
Shoplifting costs stores millions of pounds every year.
phishing the activity of dishonestly persuading people to give you their credit card details over the Internet, so that you can steal money from their bank account:
Phishing is becoming very popular with computer criminals.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

steal
sti:l
See: lock the barn door after the horse is stolen

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲