stealing 1 of 2

noun

as in robbery
the unlawful taking and carrying away of property without the consent of its owner in those days the stealing of a horse was a very serious crime

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stealing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of steal
1
as in swiping
to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep the guy who tried to steal my car was sentenced to a year in jail

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sneaking
to move about in a sly or secret manner the teenagers were able to steal past a security guard and enter the fairgrounds without paying admission

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stealing
Noun
Blatant, in-your-face lying, cheating and stealing is the norm. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 16 Sep. 2026 The stealing of Native Americans and their homelands is not just a side story in the grand drama of American history. — Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026 The victim later told police the woman had been fired from her company after being suspected of stealing, the warrant affidavit said. — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 14 Aug. 2026 This kind of stealing of consensus is hardly new to American politics, true enough. — Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 Economic circumstances also contribute to the rise of stealing and fraud. — Devika Rao, TheWeek, 3 Aug. 2026 Appearances by the unrelenting (and scene-stealing) Frank Castle, the vigilante known as the Punisher, also demand a more accountable hero. — Ken Makin, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Aug. 2026 Nathaniel Pearson of Raytown was charged Tuesday with first degree assault, armed criminal action and attempted stealing of a motor vehicle, the prosecutor’s office said in a Wednesday news release. — Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 29 July 2026 Like the first book of the trilogy, this one unfolds entirely in dialogue—only instead of giving us a narrator whose hat was stolen, this story is narrated by the fish who did the stealing. — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 7 July 2026
Verb
Planet 1 pulls Planet 2 backward, stealing some of the latter’s orbital energy. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2026 Continue reading … FUGITIVE DELIVERED — FBI brings back suspect accused of stealing $600K in federal food stamp benefits. — FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026 Sacramento County sheriff’s detectives arrested two men Tuesday suspected of stealing cash during an armed robbery in August at a North Highlands smoke shop. — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026 New York City police are looking for two suspects who were allegedly seen stealing a dog from the front lawn of a Queens home. — Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 Dyrholm will star as a woman who is unable to acknowledge and access her own feelings and constructs intimacy by stealing objects from people instead of getting close to them. — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026 In one incident, prosecutors say Maduro and Flores ordered members of their security details to torture a law enforcement official suspected of stealing proceeds from narcotics trafficking. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026 Jugging usually involves suspects following bank customers and stealing cash from their vehicles, according to San Antonio police. — Jacob Beltran, San Antonio Express-News, 15 Oct. 2026 This results in a snowball fight, some wedding crashing, and Lister stealing Hitler's bag. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stealing
  1. robbery
  2. swiping
  3. sneaking
  4. theft
  5. robbing
  6. lurking
  7. pilfering
  8. slipping
Noun
  • Others convicted in relation to the robbery included Brian Reader, a career criminal who was involved in other high-profile robberies before and after Brink’s-Mat, crooked solicitor Michael Relton, and McAvoy’s wife, Kathleen.
    — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The theft eclipses previous high-profile wine robberies in Italy.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of robbery
Verb
  • Instagram Stories remain at the top of the feed, per screenshots from Oncescu, while swiping the screen pulls up the traditional feed of posts from accounts a user follows.
    — Mia Sato, The Verge, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Billed as an immersive matchmaking experience and a new take on the dating show, the format features singletons who are tired of swiping and first dates and are ready to get hitched.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of swiping
Verb
  • Kids made good accomplices, tasked with sneaking off on a hunt for the bill.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
  • At 15, Mariana de Miguel was already sneaking into Mexico City’s nightlife with a fake ID, saving money to see the bands that shaped her imagination.
    — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of sneaking
Noun
  • Joke theft, a phenomenon predating the art form of stand-up comedy, has entered an uncanny new era.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The company's preliminary findings do not definitively rule out data theft.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of theft
Verb
  • Guardado was convicted of robbing and killing a woman in order to buy drugs in 2004.
    — David Fischer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • To her, romance and courtship isn’t just ambient but invasive, robbing her of friends — both in the sense that men can’t seem to leave things platonic, while women either mock her or shun her in favor of a new date.
    — Kambole Campbell, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of robbing
Verb
  • The most profitable service targets authors lurking outside the notoriously gatekept realm of traditional publishing.
    — Snigdha Poonam, The Dial, 13 Oct. 2026
  • However, the modern versions that are packed with high explosives and sit lurking under the dirt to blow up unwary vehicles or pedestrians are much nastier affairs.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of lurking
Verb
  • The frequency with which the Premier League’s richest are now pilfering the best players from fellow English clubs is no coincidence.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Prosecutors said Pildes defrauded attendees and small business owners alike, pilfering funds to pay for extensive renovations on a lakefront property in New Jersey, concert tickets, luxury getaways, Michelin star meals and a sports car.
    — Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 15 Apr. 2026
Definition of pilfering
Verb
  • But a few months later, at her 18-month appointment, the standard graph that plotted a child’s weight against their age showed her weight slipping off the curve.
    — Raj Panjabi, Time, 13 Oct. 2026
  • If one hook isn’t enough to keep the bag from slipping, place another one on the opposite side.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of slipping

Browse Nearby Words

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stealing
stealing (from)
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Cite this Entry

“Stealing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stealing. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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