Steal (?), v. i. 1. To
practice, or be guilty of,
theft; to commit larceny or theft.
Thou shalt not steal.
Ex. xx. 15. 2. To withdraw, or pass privily; to slip in, along, or away, unperceived; to go or come furtively. Chaucer.
Fixed of mind to avoid
further entreaty, and to fly all company, one night she
stole away.
Sir P. Sidney. From whom you
now must steal, and take no leave.
Shak. A soft and solemn breathing sound
Rose like a steam
of rich, distilled perfumes,
And stole upon the air.
Milton.
Steal (?), v. t. [imp.
Stole (?); p. p. Stolen (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stealing.]
[OE. stelen, AS. stelan; akin to OFries. stela, D. stelen, OHG. stelan, G.
stehlen, Icel. stela, SW.
stjäla, Dan. stiæle, Goth.
stilan.] 1. To take and carry away, feloniously; to take without right or leave, and
with intent to keep wrongfully; as, to steal the personal goods of another.
Maugre thy heed, thou must for indigence
Or steal, or borrow, thy dispense.
Chaucer.
The man who stole a goose and gave away the
giblets in
&?;lms.
G. Eliot.
2. To withdraw or convey clandestinely (reflexive); hence, to creep furtively, or to insinuate.
They could insinuate and steal themselves under the same by their
humble carriage and submission.
Spenser. He will steal himself into a man's favor.
Shak.
3. To gain by insinuating arts or covert means.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of
Israel.
2 Sam. xv. 6.
4. To get
into one's power gradually and by imperceptible degrees; to
take possession of by a gradual and imperceptible appropriation; -- with
away.
Variety of objects has a tendency to steal away the mind from
its steady pursuit of any subject.
I. Watts. 5. To accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner; to try to carry
out secretly; as, to steal a look.
Always, when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, . . . and do not think to steal it.
Bacon. To steal a march, to march in a covert way; to gain an advantage unobserved; -- formerly followed by of, but now
by on or
upon, and sometimes by over; as, to steal a march upon one's political rivals.
She yesterday wanted to steal a march of poor Liddy.
Smollett.
Fifty thousand men can not easily steal a march over the sea.
Walpole. Syn. -- To filch; pilfer; purloin; thieve.
Steal (?), n. [See Stale a handle.]
A handle; a stale, or stele. [Archaic or Prov. Eng.]
And
in his hand
a huge poleax did bear.
Whose steale was iron-studded but not long.
Spenser.
Hear it pronounced