Stealing

stealing
    n 1: the act of taking something from someone unlawfully; "the
         thieving is awful at Kennedy International" [syn:
         {larceny}, {theft}, {thievery}, {thieving}, {stealing}]
    2: avoiding detection by moving carefully [syn: {stealth},
       {stealing}]
    

Steal \Steal\ (st[=e]l), v. t. [imp. {Stole} (st[=o]l); p. p.
   {Stolen} (st[=o]"l'n); p. pr. & vb. n. {Stealing}.] [OE.
   stelen, AS. stelan; akin to OFries. stela, D. stelen, OHG.
   stelan, G. stehlen, Icel. stela, SW. stj[aum]la, Dan.
   stiaele, 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.
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            Maugre thy heed, thou must for indigence
            Or steal, or beg, or borrow, thy dispense.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            The man who stole a goose and gave away the giblets
            in alms.                              --G. Eliot.
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   2. To withdraw or convey clandestinely (reflexive); hence, to
      creep furtively, or to insinuate.
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            They could insinuate and steal themselves under the
            same by their humble carriage and submission.
                                                  --Spenser.
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            He will steal himself into a man's favor. --Shak.
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   3. To gain by insinuating arts or covert means.
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            So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
                                                  --2 Sam. xv.
                                                  6.
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   4. To get into one's power gradually and by imperceptible
      degrees; to take possession of by a gradual and
      imperceptible appropriation; -- with away.
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            Variety of objects has a tendency to steal away the
            mind from its steady pursuit of any subject. --I.
                                                  Watts.
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   5. To accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner; to try
      to carry out secretly; as, to steal a look.
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            Always, when thou changest thine opinion or course,
            profess it plainly, . . . and do not think to steal
            it.                                   --Bacon.
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   {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.
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            She yesterday wanted to steal a march of poor Liddy.
                                                  --Smollett.
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            Fifty thousand men can not easily steal a march over
            the sea.                              --Walpole.
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   Syn: To filch; pilfer; purloin; thieve.
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Stealing \Steal"ing\, n.
   1. The act of taking feloniously the personal property of
      another without his consent and knowledge; theft; larceny.
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   2. That which is stolen; stolen property; -- chiefly used in
      the plural.
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Stealing
See {THEFT}.
    

STEALING. This term imports, ex vi termini, nearly the same as larceny; but 
in common parlance, it does not always import a felony; as, for example, you 
stole an acre of my land. 
     2. In slander cases, it seems that the term stealing takes its 
complexion from the subject-matter to which it is applied, and will be 
considered as intended of a felonious stealing, if a felony could have been 
committed of such subject-matter. Stark. on Slan. 80; 12 Johns. Rep. 239; 3 
Binn. R. 546; Whart. Dig. tit. Slander. 
    

99 Moby Thesaurus words for "stealing":
      abstraction, all fours, annexation, appropriation, blackmail,
      boodle, boosting, booty, burglary, conversion, conveyance, crawl,
      crawling, creep, creeping, doggo, embezzlement, filching, fraud,
      furtive, graft, gumshoeing, haul, hidden out, hot goods, in ambush,
      in hiding, in the wings, larceny, liberation, lift, lifting, loot,
      lurking, nightwalking, on tiptoe, padding, peculation, perks,
      perquisite, pickings, pilferage, pilfering, pinch, pinching,
      piracy, pirating, plagiarism, plagiarizing, plunder, poaching,
      pork barrel, prize, prowling, public till, public trough,
      purloining, pussyfoot, pussyfooted, pussyfooting, robbery, robbing,
      scrabble, scramble, scrounging, shoplifting, sidling, skulking,
      slinking, snaking, snatching, sneak thievery, sneaking, snitching,
      spoil, spoils, spoils of office, squeeze, steal, stealage,
      stealings, stealthy, stolen goods, surreptitious, swag, swindle,
      swiping, take, theft, thievery, thieving, till, tippytoe, tiptoe,
      tiptoeing, touch, under cover, waiting concealed, worming