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Remove vs Steal - What's the difference?

remove | steal | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between remove and steal

is that remove is to discard, set aside, especially something abstract (a thought, feeling, etc.) while steal is to draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.

In intransitive terms the difference between remove and steal

is that remove is to change one's residence; to move while steal is to move silently or secretly.

remove

English

Verb

(remov)
  • (label) To move something from one place to another, especially to take away.
  • :
  • *(Bible), (w) xix.14:
  • *:Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=2 citation , passage=Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed , she had reverted to her normal gaiety.  She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.}}
  • # To replace a dish within a course.
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=But Richmond
  • (label) To murder.
  • To dismiss a batsman.
  • (label) To discard, set aside, especially something abstract (a thought, feeling, etc.).
  • *1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , III.viii:
  • *:Die had she rather in tormenting griefe, / Then any should of falsenesse her reproue, / Or loosenesse, that she lightly did remoue .
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author= Karen McVeigh
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=10, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= US rules human genes can't be patented , passage=The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.}}
  • To depart, leave.
  • *:
  • *:THenne the kynge dyd doo calle syre Gawayne / syre Borce / syr Lyonel and syre Bedewere / and commaunded them to goo strayte to syre Lucius / and saye ye to hym that hastely he remeue oute of my land / And yf he wil not / bydde hym make hym redy to bataylle and not distresse the poure peple
  • (label) To change one's residence; to move.
  • *(William Shakespeare)
  • *:Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane.
  • *1719 , (Daniel Defoe), (Robinson Crusoe)
  • *:Now my life began to be so easy that I began to say to myself that could I but have been safe from more savages, I cared not if I was never to remove from the place where I lived.
  • *1834 , (David Crockett), A Narrative of the Life of , Nebraska 1987, p.20:
  • *:Shortly after this, my father removed , and settled in the same county, about ten miles above Greenville.
  • To dismiss or discharge from office.
  • :
  • Synonyms

    * unstay

    Antonyms

    * (move something from one place to another) settle, place, add

    Derived terms

    * removable * removal * remover

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of removing something.
  • * (rfdate) (Milton)
  • This place should be at once both school and university, not needing a remove to any other house of scholarship.
  • * (rfdate) (Goldsmith)
  • And drags at each remove a lengthening chain.
  • (archaic) Removing a dish at a meal in order to replace it with the next course, a dish thus replaced, or the replacement.
  • (British) (at some public schools ) A division of the school, especially the form prior to last
  • A step or gradation (as in the phrase "at one remove")
  • * (rfdate) (Addison)
  • A freeholder is but one remove from a legislator.
  • Distance in time or space; interval.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2007, author=James D. McCallister, title=King's Highway, page=162, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=DnRD6B3PPAoC&pg=PA162
  • , passage=In his unfortunate absence at this far remove of 2007, Zevon's musicianship and irascible wit are as missed as ever.}}
  • (dated) The transfer of one's home or business to another place; a move.
  • * (rfdate)
  • It is an English proverb that three removes are as bad as a fire.
  • The act of resetting a horse's shoe.
  • (Jonathan Swift)

    References

    * OED 2nd edition 1989 1000 English basic words ----

    steal

    English

    Verb

  • (lb) To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else.
  • :
  • *
  • *
  • *:"I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal'. I never did that. I always made up my mind I'd be a big man some day, and—I'm glad I didn't ' steal ."
  • To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.
  • :
  • (lb) To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully.
  • :
  • *(Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)
  • *:Variety of objects has a tendency to steal away the mind from its steady pursuit of any subject.
  • *(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • *:Always, when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly,and do not think to steal it.
  • *
  • To acquire at a low price.
  • :
  • (lb) To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.
  • (lb) To move silently or secretly.
  • :
  • *1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Ch.1:
  • *:"Did he take his bottle well?" Mrs. Flanders whispered, and Rebecca nodded and went to the cot and turned down the quilt, and Mrs. Flanders bent over and looked anxiously at the baby, asleep, but frowning. The window shook, and Rebecca stole like a cat and wedged it.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 23, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Man Utd 1-6 Man City , passage=United's hopes of mounting a serious response suffered a blow within two minutes of the restart when Evans, who had endured a miserable afternoon, lost concentration and allowed Balotelli to steal in behind him. The defender's only reaction was to haul the Italian down, resulting in an inevitable red card.}}
  • To withdraw or convey (oneself) clandestinely.
  • *(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • *:They could insinuate and steal themselves under the same by their humble carriage and submission.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:He will steal himself into a man's favour.
  • To advance safely to (another base) during the delivery of a pitch, without the aid of a hit, walk, passed ball, wild pitch, or defensive indifference.
  • To dispossess
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=February 12, author=Les Roopanarine, work=BBC
  • , title= Birmingham 1-0 Stoke , passage=However, until Gardner stole the ball from Dean Whitehead in the centre circle with the half-hour approaching, setting off on a run which culminated with a testing long-range shot - with debutant Obafemi Martins lurking, Begovic gathered at the second time of asking - Stoke looked the more credible contenders to break the deadlock.}}

    Synonyms

    * (to illegally take possession of) flog, (Cockney rhyming slang) half-inch, (slang) knock off, (slang) jack, lift, nick, pinch, pocket, rob, thieve, confiscate, convert * (to secretly move) sneak * See also

    Antonyms

    * (acquire licitly ) receive, purchase, buy, earn * (provide freely ) donate, bestow, grant

    Troponyms

    * shoplift

    See also

    * burglarize * burgle * confiscate * pickpocket * pilfer * steal away

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of stealing.
  • A piece of merchandise available at a very attractive price.
  • At this price, this car is a steal .
  • (basketball, ice hockey) A situation in which a defensive player actively takes possession of the ball or puck from the opponent's team.
  • (baseball) A stolen base.
  • (curling) Scoring in an end without the hammer.
  • (computing) A policy in database systems that a database follows which allows a transaction to be written on nonvolatile storage before its commit occurs
  • Synonyms

    * (merchandise available at a very attractive price) bargain

    References