steal away


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steal away

1. To leave or depart from some location or situation very quickly, quietly, and furtively. I started feeling a bit despondent at the party, so I stole away while no one was looking. The two stole away to share a kiss.
2. To steal someone or something (from someone); to rob someone of someone or something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "steal" and "away." The two thieves stole the statue away by loading it into a helicopter and making off into the night sky. The gang has been stealing children away for years and brainwashing them as young soldiers.
3. To take someone or something away from someone, especially in a way that seems unfair or malicious. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "steal" and "away." The team had victory within their grasp, but with a last-minute field goal, the reigning champions stole it away from them. I don't know why you're so convinced that I'm trying to steal your boyfriend away, but it simply is not true!
See also: away, steal
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

steal away (from someone or something)

to sneak away from someone or something. The thief stole away from the policeman. We stole away from the boring lecture.
See also: away, steal
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

steal away

v.
To leave quietly without being noticed: During the party, the lovers stole away to the garden.
See also: away, steal
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
See also:
References in periodicals archive ?
Steal Away Women strives to provide space to help women reclaim biblical principles that evoke awareness, inspire change, equip, and empower with resources that lead to intentional wholistic living.
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And if thousands of scratchy insect-legs weren't enough to steal away Christian's attention, these prickly noise-makers also gave him quite an earful.
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It is with some irony that we also look to our past in our special package exploring the Underground Railroad (see "Steal Away," page 22).
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Hedges has learned how war and war-mongering warp the human spirit and the social psyche as they steal away, often pointlessly, so many human lives.
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Aerolineas will test-fly its first foreign subsidiary, Aerolineas del Sur, which will try to steal away clients from LANS ironclad grip on Chiles domestic market.
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The Old Man and Steal Away from the new album I Will Love You brought out the emotional and tender side of their performance,as did For Those We Left Behind.
REVIEW: Heart strings and exuberance; The Fureys and Davey Arthur Stiwt Theatre Rhos,Wrexham
After a long, hard winter, there's no better way to rejuvenate and spring forward than being pampered at a spa even better if you can steal away to an exotic island.
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On an episode set to air October 13, Kimberly plays the fly DJ the sisters discover at a rival club and steal away to spin at P3, the club belonging to supernatural sis Piper (Holly Marie Combs).
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Almost 200 years ago a French naturalist wrote that "enticed by the riches that would come from vanquishing whales, man disturbed the peace of their vast wilderness, violated their haven, wiped out all those unable to steal away to the inaccessible wasteland of icy polar seas ...
Martin, Stephen. The whales' journey: a year in the life of a humpback whale, and a century in the history of whaling
They may steal away when the rising sun spooks the fish but always return for another try, growing old in their climb up the weights ladder towards a double-figure whopper.
Fishing: Caramel bait makes it sweeter for Peter
Were "Go Down, Moses" (166-67) and "Steal Away" (191) purely religious in their connotation, or were they also intended as signals?
Lyrics of the Afro-American Spiritual: A Documentary Collection
It tends to sneak up on you, deliver the sermon with a punch, and steal away under sanguine cover.
Guy's in the hood
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