STEAL (stole, stolen)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: stole    , stolen   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does steal mean? 

• STEAL (noun)
  The noun STEAL has 2 senses:

1. an advantageous purchase

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)

  Familiarity information: STEAL used as a noun is rare.

• STEAL (verb)
  The verb STEAL has 3 senses:

1. take without the owner's consent

2. move stealthily

3. steal a base

  Familiarity information: STEAL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STEAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An advantageous purchase

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

bargain; buy; steal

Context example:

the stock was a real buy at that price

Hypernyms ("steal" is a kind of...):

purchase (something acquired by purchase)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "steal"):

song (a very small sum)

travel bargain (a bargain rate for travellers on commercial routes (usually air routes))

Sense 2

Meaning:

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)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("steal" is a kind of...):

ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)

Derivation:

steal (steal a base)

• STEAL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they steal    ... he / she / it steals   
Past simple: stole   
Past participle: stolen   
-ing form: stealing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Take without the owner's consent

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

rip; rip off; steal

Context example:

This author stole entire paragraphs from my dissertation

Hypernyms (to "steal" is one way to...):

take (take by force)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "steal"):

abstract; cabbage; filch; hook; lift; nobble; pilfer; pinch; purloin; snarf; sneak; swipe (make off with belongings of others)

lift; rustle (take illegally)

shoplift (steal in a store)

pirate (copy illegally; of published material)

lift; plagiarise; plagiarize (take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property)

bag; pocket (take unlawfully)

defalcate; embezzle; malversate; misappropriate; peculate (appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use)

rob (take something away by force or without the consent of the owner)

cop; glom; hook; knock off; snitch; thieve (take by theft)

walk off (take without permission)

hustle; pluck; roll (sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity)

loot; plunder (take illegally; of intellectual property)

burglarise; burglarize; burgle; heist (commit a burglary; enter and rob a dwelling)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sentence example:

They steal the money

Derivation:

stealer (a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it)

stealing (the act of taking something from someone unlawfully)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move stealthily

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

slip; steal

Context example:

The ship slipped away in the darkness

Hypernyms (to "steal" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Also:

steal away (leave furtively and stealthily)

Derivation:

stealing (avoiding detection by moving carefully)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Steal a base

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "steal" is one way to...):

advance; gain; gain ground; get ahead; make headway; pull ahead; win (obtain advantages, such as points, etc.)

Domain category:

ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

steal (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))

 Context examples 

Because I get it back from the worthless wretch who stole it, from the woman who robbed the dead and the living.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It is not good to steal, wherefore it is the law that the man who steals must die.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

It has always been said that my father stole all the securities and fled.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A vague feeling of uneasiness began to steal over me.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With that, my aunt pulled him by the sleeve, and nodded to me; and we three stole quietly out of the room, and came away.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Well armed, they stole out of the stockade, but it proved a useless mission.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient believe that others are stealing from him/her?

(NPI - Others are Stealing From Him/Her, NCI Thesaurus)

The three most essential are gone—stolen, vanished.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On the third morning my fellow was so affected by the sight of my condition, that he burst into tears and laid out a pair which he had stolen from me.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then he was to go with him and bring back the stolen money.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)