steal

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To take something that belongs to someone else without permission.

   Three paintings were stolen from the gallery.

2. 2
   verb

   To use someone else's ideas or work as if they were your own.

   He stole my idea and presented it as his own.

3. 3
   verb

   To move quietly and secretly so as not to be noticed.

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

4. 4
   verb

   To do something quietly and quickly, hoping not to be seen.

   He stole glances at the woman across the room.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Steal is an Old English word whose related senses were to take dishonestly and to move secretly. Stealth, originally meaning theft, and stalk, originally meaning to walk cautiously or secretly, come from the same word family.

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…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary