steal
Americanverb (used with object)
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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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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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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:
In a lawsuit filed Friday, Apple alleged that a senior OpenAI executive, who once sat atop Apple’s own product design team, was involved in a monthslong campaign to steal Apple trade secrets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Salgado Araujo’s family said he might not have known the people in unmarked vehicles were ICE officers and instead thought they were going to steal his tools.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Apple has sued OpenAI and one of its lead executives, alleging that the artificial-intelligence lab attempted to steal confidential information from the iPhone maker.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
"There's too many people that hate on each other, steal from each other. They don't love each other," said Los Angeles-based artist Johnny Presley.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
Penelope could not help trying to catch a glimpse of the strange man who had tried to steal her Hixby’s Guide.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
He played an all-around game, collecting four rebounds, three steals and two blocks with zero turnovers in 30 minutes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 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
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
Rowsell climbs onto the drum riser and steals Amey's bumblebee sunglasses while screaming into a megaphone.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
He crawls up swordsmen’s shirts, steals arrows from archers’ backs, and straight-up trips people.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Plus, Texas goes after Wall Street’s stock-exchange duopoly, and Apple alleges OpenAI stole trade secrets to develop competing devices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
"They stole everything: our clothes, shoes, utensils, pots, cups, glasses."
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
I picked him up at Los Angeles International Airport and took him straight to Zuma Beach for a picnic, where we watched dolphins jumping in the waves while the seagulls stole our potato chips.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
On a day that had seemed destined for India's historic teenage debutant, Ireland's pair of new fast bowlers stole the show on their first appearances.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Now, Jason, I’m sure no one stole your mitt. It’s probably just lost in the pile of gear here.”
From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Flock Safety operates 138 pole-mounted cameras in Los Angeles, allowing authorities to track vehicles that have been reported stolen or are registered to known fugitives.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
“No human being in a free society should have their hard-earned money stolen in this manner,” he tweeted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
One of Yepez’s relatives then told Lopez’s daughter that her mother “went missing because she had allegedly stolen money from the business,” according to the police report.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
What’s more, China has a history of pilfering technology to get ahead: In 2025, one in five European companies in China said that Chinese firms had stolen technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
That’s weird—why am I excited to have my food stolen by this opossum?
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Apple alleges in its new suit that “at every level…OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 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
But was it an egregious, personal error, akin to Totenberg stealing into Alito’s hotel room and absconding with an internal organ, as it has been widely treated?
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
He had done this all his life, but, as he said, until now scavenging had not included stealing.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
