Stealing

How to spell stealing

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce stealing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does stealing mean?

1. verbThe act of taking another person's property without permission and with no intention of returning it.
2. verbMoving or acting quietly and secretly so as not to be noticed.

Stealing in a sentence

• Stealing from the till cost him his job and his reputation.

• The cat was stealing silently along the top of the fence.

• The security cameras were installed to discourage stealing in the warehouse.

• She kept stealing glances at her phone during the meeting.

Where does stealing come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the present participle and gerund of the verb 'steal', which descends from the Old English 'stelan', meaning to take something secretly and without right. The word is a thoroughly Germanic one, with close relatives in Old Norse 'stela', Dutch 'stelen' and German 'stehlen', all carrying the same idea of taking property unlawfully. The 'ea' spelling preserves a long vowel that in older English was written and sounded rather differently, which is why the modern pronunciation no longer matches the look of the letters. From early on the word also developed a quieter sense, that of moving or acting in a secret, unnoticed way, as in stealing across a room, and this is the same root that gives us 'stealth' and 'stealthy'. The trap for writers is simply the 'ea' pairing and remembering that the silent base 'steal' keeps its 'a' before the ending.

How the word is built

• steal (Old English stelan: to take wrongfully)
• -ing (verbal noun / present participle suffix)