The difference between Buy and Steal

When used as nouns, buy means something which is bought, whereas steal means the act of stealing.

When used as verbs, buy means to obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods, whereas steal means to take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else.

check bellow for the other definitions of Buy and Steal

  1. Buy as a verb (transitive):

    To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods

    Examples:

    "I'm going to buy my father something nice for his birthday."

  2. Buy as a verb (transitive):

    To obtain by some sacrifice.

    Examples:

    "I've [[bought]] material comfort by foregoing my dreams."

  3. Buy as a verb (transitive):

    To bribe.

    Examples:

    "He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs."

  4. Buy as a verb (transitive):

    To be equivalent to in value.

    Examples:

    "The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to."

  5. Buy as a verb (transitive, informal):

    to accept as true; to believe

    Examples:

    "I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!"

  6. Buy as a verb (intransitive):

    To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a meal)

    Examples:

    "She buys for Federated."

    "Let's go out for dinner. I'm buying."

  7. Buy as a verb (poker slang, transitive):

    To make a bluff, usually a large one.

    Examples:

    "Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff"

  1. Buy as a noun:

    Something which is bought; a purchase.

    Examples:

    "At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy."

  1. Steal as a verb (transitive):

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

    Examples:

    "Three irreplaceable paintings were stolen from the gallery."

  2. Steal as a verb (transitive, of ideas, words, music, a look, credit, etc.):

    To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.

    Examples:

    "They stole my idea for a biodegradable, disposable garbage de-odorizer."

  3. Steal as a verb (transitive):

    To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully.

    Examples:

    "He stole glances at the pretty woman across the street."

  4. Steal as a verb (transitive, colloquial):

    To acquire at a low price.

    Examples:

    "He stole the car for two thousand less than its book value."

  5. Steal as a verb (transitive):

    To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.

  6. Steal as a verb (intransitive):

    To move silently or secretly.

    Examples:

    "He stole across the room, trying not to wake her."

  7. Steal as a verb:

    To withdraw or convey (oneself) clandestinely.

  8. Steal as a verb (transitive, baseball):

    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.

  9. Steal as a verb (sports, transitive):

    To dispossess

  10. Steal as a verb (humorous, transitive):

    To acquire; to get

    Examples:

    "Hold on, I need to steal a phone from the office. I'll be back real quick."

  1. Steal as a noun:

    The act of stealing.

  2. Steal as a noun:

    A piece of merchandise available at a very attractive price.

    Examples:

    "At this price, this car is a steal."

  3. Steal as a noun (basketball, ice hockey):

    A situation in which a defensive player actively takes possession of the ball or puck from the opponent's team.

  4. Steal as a noun (baseball):

    A stolen base.

  5. Steal as a noun (curling):

    Scoring in an end without the hammer.

  6. Steal as a noun (computing):

    A policy in database systems that a database follows which allows a transaction to be written on nonvolatile storage before its commit occurs.

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