1 a : to take (something that does not belong to you) in a way that is wrong or illegal [+ obj] ▪ They stole thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry from the store. ▪ Someone stole my bicycle. ▪ He discovered that his car had been stolen. ▪ a stolen watch [no obj] ▪ The store manager accused the boy of stealing.
b [+ obj] : to take (something that you are not supposed to have) without asking for permission
▪ I stole a cookie from the cookie jar.
c [+ obj] : to wrongly take and use (another person's idea, words, etc.)
▪ He stole my idea.
d [+ obj] : to persuade (someone who has been with someone else) to be with you especially by doing things that are unfair or dishonest
▪ He stole my girlfriend. ▪ They stole our best pitcher away from our team. 2 [+ obj] : to get (something that is difficult to get) in usually a quick and often secret way
▪ I stole a nap this afternoon. [=I managed to take a brief nap this afternoon] ▪ He stole a peek/look [=took a quick peek/look] at the birthday cake. ▪ He stole a glance at her [=glanced at her quickly] before riding away. ▪ She stole a kiss from him [=kissed him in a quick and sudden way] and ran away. 3 [+ obj] : to get more attention than others during (a performance, scene, etc.)
▪ Her impassioned acting stole the scene. [=everyone in the audience watched her during the scene because of her impassioned acting] ▪ His outstanding performance stole the show. 4 a baseball : to reach (a base) safely by running to it from the previous base when the ball has not been hit by a batter [+ obj] ▪ He reached first base on a single and then stole second (base). [no obj] ▪ She tried to steal but got thrown out. ▪ He leads the league in stealing.
b [+ obj] sports : to take (the ball, puck, etc.) from another player
▪ (basketball) He stole the ball and took it down the court for two points. ▪ He stole the pass. 5 [no obj] : to come or go quietly or secretly
▪ They stole out of the room. ▪ She stole away silently.