Verb

(en verb)

To pull or twist violently.

To obtain by pulling or violent force.

He wrested the remote control from my grasp and changed the channel.

* Milton

Did not she / Of Timna first betray me, and reveal / The secret wrested from me

(figuratively) To seize.

* Macaulay

They instantly wrested the government out of the hands of Hastings.

* 1912 : (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 12

There was one of the tribe of Tarzan who questioned his authority, and that was Terkoz, the son of Tublat, but he so feared the keen knife and the deadly arrows of his new lord that he confined the manifestation of his objections to petty disobediences and irritating mannerisms; Tarzan knew, however, that he but waited his opportunity to wrest the kingship from him by some sudden stroke of treachery, and so he was ever on his guard against surprise.

(figuratively) To twist, pervert, distort.

* Bible, Exodus xxiii. 6

Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor.

* South

their arts of wresting , corrupting, and false interpreting the holy text

* 1597 , Shakespeare,

And, I beseech you,

Wrest once the law to your authority;

To do a great right do a little wrong,

And curb this cruel devil of his will.

To tune with a wrest, or key.

Verb

(lb) To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else.

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*

*

*:"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.

:

*(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.}}