stealing

[stee-ling]

noun

1. the act of a person who steals.

2. Usually stealings. something that is stolen. steal.

adjective

1. given to or characterized by theft.

Other Word Forms

• stealingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of stealing¹

1300–50; Middle English steling (gerund). See steal, -ing ¹, -ing ²

Example Sentences

Sgt Ross Haybourne, from the Kent Police Rural Task Force, says criminals are often stealing to order across the South and South East of England.

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Buddy, though anguished by Odd’s arrival, warms to the idea when he spies Odd stealing Sook’s cameo brooch.

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Six months later, she was back in court again where she admitted stealing from a service station in May.

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The breeze is just a little too strong, sometimes knocking me off balance or stealing my breath away.

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He was so racked with guilt about stealing the ring that he had already decided to flee Saint Petersburg at dawn and make a new life for himself elsewhere.

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