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steal

verb
/stiːl/

Etymology

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 (“to 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"

  1. derived from *tsel-✻
  2. derived from *stel(H)-✻
  3. derived from *ster-✻

Definitions

  1. To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else…

    To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.

    • Three irreplaceable paintings were stolen from the gallery.
    • The problem is the two bicycles stolen from us.
    • They stole all my money (from me).

  2. To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.

    • They stole my idea for a biodegradable, disposable garbage de-odorizer.

  3. To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully.

    • He stole glances at the pretty woman across the street.
    • Variety of objects has a tendency to steal away the mind too often from its steady pursuit of any subject.
    • Always, when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly,[…]and do not think to steal it.
  4. ›+ 15 more definitions

    1. To acquire at a low price.

      • He stole the car for two thousand less than its book value.
      • He got that car for two grand under book? Wow, he stole that thing!

    2. To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding…

      To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.

    3. To move silently or secretly.

      • He stole across the room, trying not to wake her.

    4. To convey (something) clandestinely.

      • The fact that European Cuckoos steal their eggs into the nests of other birds has been generally known for more than a thousand years.

    5. To withdraw or convey (oneself) clandestinely.

      • They could insinuate and steal themselves under the same by their humble carriage and submission.
      • He will steal himself into a man's favour.

    6. To advance safely to (another base) during the delivery of a pitch, without the aid of a…

      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.

    7. To dispossess

    8. To borrow for a short moment.

      • Can I steal your pen?

    9. To take or retell someone else’s joke

      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.

    10. The act of stealing.

    11. A piece of merchandise available at a very low, attractive price

      A piece of merchandise available at a very low, attractive price; the act of buying it.

      • Near-synonyms: bargain, good value, value for money
      • At this price, this car is a steal.
      • He got that thing for just twenty bucks? What a steal!

    12. A situation in which a defensive player actively takes possession of the ball or puck…

      A situation in which a defensive player actively takes possession of the ball or puck from the opponent's team.

    13. A stolen base.

    14. Scoring in an end without the hammer.

    15. A policy in database systems that a database follows which allows a transaction to be…

      A policy in database systems that a database follows which allows a transaction to be written on nonvolatile storage before its commit occurs.

The neighborhood

Derived

besteal, close the stable door after the horse has been stolen, don't teach your grandmother to steal sheep, double steal, forsteal, instealing, kill steal, lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen, outsteal, resteal, scene stealing, scene-stealing, shop steal, stealable, stealage, steal a glance, steal a kiss, steal a march, stealection, stealer, stealership, steal in, steal someone's heart, steal someone's identity, steal someone's soul, steal someone's thunder, stealth, steal the bacon, steal the scene, steal the show, subclavian steal syndrome, unsteal, upsteal, coronary steal

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at steal. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01steal02return03recur04repeatedly05repetition06performing07performance08carried09carry10lift

A definitional loop anchored at steal. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at steal

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA