Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - steal

~1 v past tense stole, past participle stolen 1 »TAKE STH« to take something that belongs to someone else + from  (Some drug users steal from their own families to finance their habit. | steal sth)  (Sean has a long history of stealing cars. | steal sth from sb)  (He was accused of stealing ideas from a rival studio.) 2 »MOVE SOMEWHERE« to move quietly without anyone noticing you + into/across etc  (I tried to steal out of the room without waking Stefan.) 3 steal the show/limelight/scene to do something, especially when you are acting in a play, that makes people pay more attention to you than to other people 4 steal a look/glance etc to look at someone or something quickly and secretly 5 »SPORT« to run to the next base2 (8) in the game of baseball before someone hits the ball 6 steal a kiss to kiss someone quickly when they are not expecting it 7 steal sb's thunder to get the success and praise someone else should have got, by doing what they had intended to do 8 steal a march on sb to secretly or unexpectedly start something that someone else had planned to do, so that you gain an advantage over them 9 steal sb's heart literary to make someone fall in love with you  ( USAGE NOTE: STEAL WORD CHOICE steal, take, rob, burgle, burglarize, pick sb's pocket People steal things (from people, cars, houses, shops, banks etc) He's stolen my Walkman! (NOT stolen me or robbed my Walkman))| Someone stole his passport while he was asleep. Take is also often used in this sense Someone's taken my wallet. People rob other people (of things) especially in a public place A man was robbed by three youths as he walked home from work yesterday. People rob banks, or gas stations, but usually burgle (BrE) or burglarize (AmE) a house or office At least 10 houses in the area had been burgled during the night. If someone picks your pocket, they steal things from your pocket, usually when you are in a crowd of people.