Steal vs Swag - What's the difference?

In transitive terms the difference between steal and swag

is that steal is to draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show while swag is to decorate (something) with loops of draped fabric.

In intransitive terms the difference between steal and swag

is that steal is to move silently or secretly while swag is to droop; to sag.

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

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

swag

English

Etymology 1

Probably from (etyl)

Verb

(swagg)

(intransitive, and, transitive) To sway; to cause to sway.

To droop; to sag.

* Palsgrave

I swag' as a fat person's belly ' swaggeth as he goeth.

To decorate (something) with loops of draped fabric.

* {{quote-news, year=2009, date=January 29, author=Cathy Horyn, title=In Paris, a Nod to Old Masters, work=New York Times citation

, passage=Dior wouldn’t be Dior without the swagged ball gown

Noun

(en noun)

A loop of draped fabric.

* 2005 , , Bloomsbury Publishing, page 438:

He looked in bewilderment at number 24, the final house with its regalia of stucco swags and bows.

A low point or depression in land; especially , a place where water collects.

* 1902', D. G. Simmons, "The Influence of Contaminated Water in the Development of Diseases", ''The American Practitioner and News'', ' 34 : 182.

Whenever the muddy water would accumulate in the swag' the water from the well in question would become muddy After the water in the ' swag had all disappeared through the sink-hole the well water would again become clear.

Derived terms

* (l)

Etymology 2

(swagger).

Noun

(-)

(slang) Style; fashionable appearance or manner.

* 2009 , Mark Anthony Archer, Exile , page 119

Now this dude got swag , and he was pushing up on me but, it wasn't like we was kicking it or anything!”

Etymology 3

From British thieves? slang.

Noun

(en noun)

(countable) The booty of a burglar or thief; a boodle.

* 1838 , :

“It?s all arranged about bringing off the swag , is it?” asked the Jew. Sikes nodded.

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)

, title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘ […] They tell me there was a recognized swag market down here.’}}

* 1971 November 22, Frank E. Emerson, “They Can Get It For You BETTER Than Wholesale”, New York Magazine , page 38

He was on his way to call on other dealers to check out their swag and to see if he could trade away some of his leftover odds and ends.

(uncountable) Handouts, freebies, or giveaways, such as those handed out at conventions.

* 2011 , Mark Henry, Battle of the Network Zombies

“Make sure to take some swag on your way out!” I called.
He stooped a bit in mid-trot and snatched a small gold bag out of the basket at the door. The contents were mostly shit, a few drink tickets to the Well of Souls, VIP status at Convent, that sort of thing.

(countable, Australia, dated) The possessions of a bushman or itinerant worker, tied up in a blanket and carried over the shoulder, sometimes attached to a stick.

(countable, Australia, by extension) A small single-person tent, usually foldable in to an integral backpack.

(countable, Australia, New Zealand) A large quantity (of something).

* 2010 August 31, " Hockey: Black Sticks lose World Cup opener]", [[w:The New Zealand Herald, The New Zealand Herald] :

New Zealand wasted a swag of chances to lose their opening women?s hockey World Cup match.

Derived terms

* swaggie * swagman

Verb

(Australia) To travel on foot carrying a swag (possessions tied in a blanket).

* 1880 , James Coutts Crawford, Recollections of Travel in New Zealand and Australia , page 259,

He told me that times had been bad at Invercargill, and that he had started for fresh pastures, had worked his passage up as mate in a small craft from the south, and, arriving in Port Underwood, had swagged his calico tent over the hill, and was now living in it, pitched in the manuka scrub.

* 1976 , Pembroke Arts Club, The Anglo-Welsh Review , page 158,

That such a man was swagging in the Victoria Bush at the age of fifty-one requires explanation.

* 2006 , , Issue 23, page 3,

The plot is straightforward. A swagman is settling down by a billabong after a hard day?s swagging .

* 2011 , Penelope Debelle, Red Silk: The Life of Elliott Johnston QC , page 21,

Over the Christmas of 1939, just three months after Britain and Australia had declared war on Germany, they went swagging together for a week and slept out under the stars in the Adelaide Hills, talking, walking and reading.

Derived terms

* swag it

Etymology 4

Noun

(en noun)

; a wild guess or ballpark estimate.

I can take a swag at the answer, but it may not be right.