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Steal vs Intercept - What's the difference?

steal | intercept |

As verbs the difference between steal and intercept

is that steal is (lb) to take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else while intercept is to stop, deflect or divert (something in progress or motion).

As nouns the difference between steal and intercept

is that steal is the act of stealing while intercept is an interception of a radio broadcast or a telephone call.

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.
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  • (lb) To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully.
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  • *(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.
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  • (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.
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  • *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

    Anagrams

    * English irregular verbs English transitive verbs 1000 English basic words

    intercept

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An interception of a radio broadcast or a telephone call.
  • (senseid)An interception of a missile.
  • (algebraic geometry) The coordinate of the point at which a curve intersects an axis.
  • *2012 , Alice Kaseberg, Greg Cripe, Peter Wildman, Introductory Algebra: Everyday Explorations , page 278
  • *:Because the horizontal-axis intercept' occurs when y=0 and the vertical-axis '''intercept''' occurs when x=0, we can find the ' intercepts algebraically.

    • See also

    * (an interception of a radio broadcast or a telephone call) bug

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To stop, deflect or divert (something in progress or motion).
    • The police intercepted the package of stolen goods while it was in transit.
    {{quote-Fanny Hill, part=2 , ...and made every vein of my body circulate liquid fires: the emotion grew so violent that it almost intercepted my respiration.}}
  • (sports) To gain possession of (the ball) in a ball game.