steal
Americanverb (used with object)
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steals,
present (3rd person singular)
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stole,
past
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stolen,
past participle
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stealing
present participle
-
to take (the property of another or others) without permission or right, especially secretly or by force.
A pickpocket stole his watch.
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to appropriate (ideas, credit, words, etc.) without right or acknowledgment.
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to take, get, or win insidiously, surreptitiously, subtly, or by chance.
He stole my girlfriend.
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to move, bring, convey, or put secretly or quietly; smuggle (usually followed by away, from, in, into, etc.).
They stole the bicycle into the bedroom to surprise the child.
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Baseball. (of a base runner) to gain (a base) without the help of a walk or batted ball, as by running to it during the delivery of a pitch.
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Games. to gain (a point, advantage, etc.) by strategy, chance, or luck.
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to gain or seize more than one's share of attention in, as by giving a superior performance.
The comedian stole the show.
verb (used without object)
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steals,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stole,
past
-
stolen,
past participle
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stealing
present participle
-
to commit or practice theft.
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to move, go, or come secretly, quietly, or unobserved.
She stole out of the house at midnight.
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to pass, happen, etc., imperceptibly, gently, or gradually.
The years steal by.
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Baseball. (of a base runner) to advance a base without the help of a walk or batted ball.
noun
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steals
plural
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Informal. an act of stealing; theft.
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Informal. the thing stolen; booty.
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Informal. something acquired at a cost far below its real value; bargain.
This dress is a steal at $40.
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Baseball. the act of advancing a base by stealing.
idioms
verb
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to take (something) from someone, etc without permission or unlawfully, esp in a secret manner
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(tr) to obtain surreptitiously
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(tr) to appropriate (ideas, etc) without acknowledgment, as in plagiarism
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to move or convey stealthily
they stole along the corridor
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(intr) to pass unnoticed
the hours stole by
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(tr) to win or gain by strategy or luck, as in various sports
to steal a few yards
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to obtain an advantage over, esp by a secret or underhand measure
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to detract from the attention due to another by forestalling him
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to be looked upon as the most interesting, popular, etc, esp unexpectedly
noun
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the act of stealing
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something stolen or acquired easily or at little cost
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stealsimple
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stealssimple
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have stolenperfect
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has stolenperfect
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am stealingprogressive
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are stealingprogressive
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is stealingprogressive
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have been stealingperfect progressive
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has been stealingperfect progressive
Past
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stolesimple
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had stolenperfect
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was stealingprogressive
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were stealingprogressive
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had been stealingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of steal
First recorded before 900; 1860–65 steal for def. 5; Middle English stelen, Old English stelan; cognate with German stehlen, Old Norse stela, Gothic stilan
Explanation
To steal is take something that isn't yours: thieves steal. But a bargain that's so good it's almost like you're getting away with robbery is also called a steal. Stealing is what thieves do: taking things from other people. A bank robber steals money. A mugger steals purses and wallets. People also use steal in other ways. If someone wastes your time, you might say they're stealing your time. A store having a sale might say, "Our prices are a steal!" In baseball, a runner can steal a base. When you see steal, think "take."
Vocabulary lists containing steal
Baseball: A Lexicon
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Dodgers need a real leadoff hitter who could work a walk, get a hit and steal a base and make it tough on a pitcher before your Nos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
“I thought, ‘I’m going to steal him away from Hamaguchi.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
It wasn’t clear whether the ExploitGym problems the model was trying to solve were more difficult than the attack it mounted to steal the answers—or if they even found any answers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The White House said in April that it would work more closely with US AI companies to combat "industrial-scale campaigns" by foreign rivals to steal technology.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Now folks are gonna tell stories about the time the Devil’s daughter got us to steal her conjure root so she could talk to High John.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals a game for the Lakers last season and said he was considering retirement strongly when the campaign concluded.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Ben Wang, as an eager young receptionist at a talent agency who steals information to help Gail, doesn’t really nail the part.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
In the end, Seattle outmaneuvered and outbodied the Sparks, snatching steals and flipping the ball around the perimeter until the Storm fired off a shot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
OK, the fact that Jennifer Coolidge steals the show also helps, as does the stunning cuteness of Buster the teacup chihuahua, along with the evergreen pizazz of the bend-and-snap sequence.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
He knows no more about her than about her sisters, but she steals his heart then and there.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Bush, 48, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, stole up to £12,000 from charities and sold fake funeral plans.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Then there’s the recent hooliganism of an OpenAI model, which escaped a testing environment, stole credentials of multiple private-company servers, then burglarized one to steal the answer to a problem-solving challenge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
As ever, Zendaya stole the show with a floor-length Tamara Ralph champagne silk crepe gown with spider webby straps, matching the white carpet in Leicester Square.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
I have a photo of my mother at the Bowl on a chilly 1940s evening sporting, like other ladies around her in the inexpensive bleachers, her mink stole.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
Frederick and Bruno might think I stole the gold.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
"The harm is happening now," Apple's lawyers say, and "every day that passes without an injunction allows OpenAI to embed their knowledge of Apple's stolen information into its hardware development efforts."
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
British Transport Police also let Levy keep using a travel card that had been stolen from a London bus driver.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Then there’s the more nefarious activities – I’ve heard of researchers deliberately moving specimens to make them hard to find so other researchers cannot examine them, and occasionally things are stolen from collections.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
She said that a package had been delivered and she didn’t want it to get stolen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Then Katherine complained, “That’s a stupid comparison. A nuclear explosion in Kansas City would kill all the stolen babies, too.”
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Almásy shelters Katharine in a cave and goes off to get help, eventually evading arrest and stealing an airplane to rescue her.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
After a bear was caught on video stealing food from his getaway on the lake, retiree Walt Pudewell last week paid $5,000 to have every door and window secured with electric mats and wiring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The participants giggle, nervously stealing glances from their prospective matches.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Prosecutors say Ying brought a dummy manuscript back to the library after stealing the real one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
“Whatever. I’m going to call her. I’m going to tell her exactly what I think about her stealing money and leaving us to clean up this mess.”
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
