steal

n. [ See Stale a handle. ] A handle; a stale, or stele. [ Archaic or Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And in his hand a huge poleax did bear.
Whose steale was iron-studded but not long. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To practice, or be guilty of, theft; to commit larceny or theft. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shalt not steal. Ex. xx. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To withdraw, or pass privily; to slip in, along, or away, unperceived; to go or come furtively. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fixed of mind to avoid further entreaty, and to fly all company, one night she stole away. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

From whom you now must steal, and take no leave. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A soft and solemn breathing sound
Rose like a steam of rich, distilled perfumes,
And stole upon the air. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who steals; a thief. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Shipbuilding) The endmost plank of a strake which stops short of the stem or stern. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of taking feloniously the personal property of another without his consent and knowledge; theft; larceny. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is stolen; stolen property; -- chiefly used in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By stealing, or as by stealing, furtively, or by an invisible motion. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. stalþe. See Steal, v. t. ] 1. The act of stealing; theft. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The owner proveth the stealth to have been committed upon him by such an outlaw. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The thing stolen; stolen property. [ Obs. ] “Sluttish dens . . . serving to cover stealths.” Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The bringing to pass anything in a secret or concealed manner; a secret procedure; a clandestine practice or action; -- in either a good or a bad sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

The monarch, blinded with desire of wealth,
With steel invades the brother's life by stealth. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

I told him of your stealth unto this wood. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Given to stealth; stealthy. [ Obs. ] -- Stealth"ful*ly, adv. [Obs.] -- Stealth"ful*ness, n. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a stealthy manner. [ 1913 Webster ]