steal

«steal» in Mova's school dictionary: To take something that belongs to someone else without… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (steal, steals, stole, stolen, stealing); noun (a steal — informal)

meaning for a pupil

1) To take something that belongs to someone else without permission and without meaning to give it back. tree →

2) To move quietly and secretly, as in she stole out of the room. tree →

3) In sport, to take the ball or a base from the other team, as in baseball or basketball. tree →

4) As a noun, "a steal" means something very cheap for what it is worth. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and in lessons about right and wrong, stealing is taking what is not yours; it is unfair, against the law and hurts trust, even with small things like sweets or a friend's pencil. In stories, thieves steal treasure, and a character may "steal a glance" (look quickly and secretly). Phrases: "steal a look", "steal the show" (be the best part of a performance), "steal someone's heart", "steal second base". If something is stolen, tell a trusted adult.

examples

• It is wrong to steal, even something small. tree →
• Someone stole my bike from outside the shop. tree →
• The fox crept in to steal the eggs. tree →
• She stole a quick look at the present. tree →
• The cat stole silently across the garden. tree →
• In the game, Mia managed to steal the ball. tree →
• The puppy stole the show at the school play. tree →
• Only five dollars for this book is a steal! tree →
• He steals the young monkeys in the night. tree →

note

Irregular verb: steal, stole, stolen (not "stealed"). Homophone trap: "steal" (take) sounds the same as "steel" (strong metal). You steal a thing; you rob a person or a place (they robbed the bank and stole the money). In maths problems, "a fox steals 3 of the 12 eggs" means subtract: 12 − 3 = 9 are left.

In the corpora

• A text saying a parcel is held and asking for a small payment is a common scam to steal bank details.
• Anyone offering free game coins for your login is a scammer trying to steal the account or a parent's card details.
• A message saying your account will be deleted unless you log in through a link is phishing, a trick to steal your login.
• Real games never ask for your password; "free coins for your login" is a trick to steal accounts.
• The Mona Lisa became even more famous after it was stolen in 1911 and found two years later.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «steal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.