stealverb [ I or T ]
uk/stiːl/us/stiːl/stole, stolensteal verb [ I or T ] (TAKE)
A2 to take something without the permission or knowledge of the owner and keep it:
She admitted stealing the money from her employers.
The number of cars which are stolen every year has risen.
They were so poor they had to steal in order to eat.
More examples
- Employees who steal are dismissed automatically.
- He knew it was wrong to steal, but the money just lying there was too great a temptation.
- They stole jewellery valued at £50 000 .
- Thieves broke into the safe and stole everything in it.
- She stole the shoes from right under the assistant's nose.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Stealing
- abscond
- aggravated burglary
- appropriate
- armed robbery
- break in/break into sth
- duff
- larceny
- liberate
- light-fingered
- loot
- looting
- relieve
- rip sth off
- rob
- robbery
- run off with sth
- scrump
- skim
- sting
- whip
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steal verb [ I or T ] (DO QUICKLY)
to do something quickly or without being noticed:
She stole a glance at her watch.
He stole out of the room while no one was looking.
Idiom(s)
steal sb's thunder
steal a march on sb
steal the limelight
steal the show/scene
stealnoun [ S ]
uk/stiːl/us/stiːl/mainly US informala product that has a very low price, or a price that is much lower than the original cost:
I picked up a new iron in the sale - it was a steal.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Costing little or no money
- bargain
- bargain bin
- cheap rate
- cheaply
- cut-price
- downscale
- economy-size
- knock-down
- low-cost
- low-rent
- mass market
- modest
- nothing
- offer
- reasonably
- snip
- something
- song
- tacky
- trinket
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