Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Steal \Steal\, v. t. [imp. {Stole}; p. p. {Stolen}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Stealing}.] [OE. stelen, AS. stelan; akin to OFries.
stela, D. stelen, OHG. stelan, G. stehlen, Icel. stela, SW.
stj["a]la, Dan. sti[ae]le, Goth. stilan.]
1. To take and carry away, feloniously; to take without right
or leave, and with intent to keep wrongfully; as, to steal
the personal goods of another.
Maugre thy heed, thou must for indigence Or steal,
or borrow, thy dispense. --Chaucer.
The man who stole a goose and gave away the giblets
in ?lms. --G. Eliot.
2. To withdraw or convey clandestinely (reflexive); hence, to
creep furtively, or to insinuate.
They could insinuate and steal themselves under the
same by their humble carriage and submission.
--Spenser.
He will steal himself into a man's favor. --Shak.
3. To gain by insinuating arts or covert means.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
--2 Sam. xv.
6.
4. To get into one's power gradually and by imperceptible
degrees; to take possession of by a gradual and
imperceptible appropriation; -- with away.
Variety of objects has a tendency to steal away the
mind from its steady pursuit of any subject. --I.
Watts.
5. To accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner; to try
to carry out secretly; as, to steal a look.
Always, when thou changest thine opinion or course,
profess it plainly, . . . and do not think to steal
it. --Bacon.
{To steal a march}, to march in a covert way; to gain an
advantage unobserved; -- formerly followed by of, but now
by on or upon, and sometimes by over; as, to steal a march
upon one's political rivals.
She yesterday wanted to steal a march of poor Liddy.
--Smollett.
Fifty thousand men can not easily steal a march over
the sea. --Walpole.
Syn: To filch; pilfer; purloin; thieve.
Stolen \Stol"en\,
p. p. of {Steal}.
Source : WordNet®
steal
v 1: take without the owner's consent; "Someone stole my wallet
on the train"; "This author stole entire paragraphs from
my dissertation"
2: move stealthily; "The ship slipped away in the darkness"
[syn: {slip}]
3: steal a base
4: to go stealthily or furtively; "..stead of sneaking around
spying on the neighbor's house" [syn: {sneak}, {mouse}, {creep},
{pussyfoot}]
[also: {stolen}, {stole}]
steal
n 1: an advantageous purchase; "she got a bargain at the
auction"; "the stock was a real buy at that price" [syn:
{bargain}, {buy}]
2: a stolen base; an instance in which a base runner advances
safely during the delivery of a pitch (without the help of
a hit or walk or passed ball or wild pitch)
[also: {stolen}, {stole}]
stolen
adj : taken dishonestly; "the purloined letter" [syn: {purloined}]
stolen
See {steal}