Meaning & use
steal away
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Meaning
verbintransitiveliterary
To leave a place quietly and secretly, especially to avoid being noticed.
Grammar: No object: you steal away from a place or steal away to do something. It is not used as 'steal away something'.
Patterns
- steal away from somewhere
- steal away to do something
- steal away in the night
The guests began to steal away before the speeches ended.
He stole away from the party without saying goodbye.
They stole away in the early hours of the morning.
Word forms
| third person singular | steals away |
|---|---|
| past tense | stole away |
| past participle | stolen away |
| -ing form | stealing away |
Common combinations
- steal away from somewhere
- She stole away from the meeting to make a phone call.
- steal away in the night
- The prisoners stole away in the night.
- steal away unnoticed
- He stole away unnoticed while everyone was dancing.
- steal away to do something
- They stole away to talk in private.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slip away
- Very similar but more common in everyday speech; it can also mean to leave quickly rather than secretly.
- sneak off
- More informal and often suggests doing something you should not; 'steal away' is more neutral and literary.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: steal away or steel away?
steal away vs steel away
'Steel' is a metal, so 'steel away' is a spelling mistake; the correct spelling is 'steal away'.
Practice
The couple ___ from the reception before the cake was cut.
Choose one answer.
The past tense of 'steal' is 'stole', so 'stole away' is correct. 'Stole away from' needs an object after it (e.g. 'stole away from the reception'), 'stealed' is not a word, and 'steal away' is the present form, which does not fit the past-time sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “steal away”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.