The difference between Sneak and Steal

When used as nouns, sneak means one who sneaks, whereas steal means the act of stealing.

When used as verbs, sneak means to creep or go stealthily, whereas steal means to take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else.

Sneak is also adjective with the meaning: in advance.

check bellow for the other definitions of Sneak and Steal

  1. Sneak as a noun:

    One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.

    Examples:

    "My little brother is such a sneak; yesterday I caught him trying to look through my diary."

  2. Sneak as a noun:

    A cheat; a con artist; a trickster

    Examples:

    "I can't believe I gave that sneak $50 for a ticket when they were selling for $20 at the front gate."

  3. Sneak as a noun:

    An informer; a tell-tale.

  4. Sneak as a noun (obsolete, cricket):

    A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter

  5. Sneak as a noun (US):

    A sneaker; a tennis shoe.

  1. Sneak as a verb (intransitive):

    To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen.

    Examples:

    "synonyms: skulk"

    "He decided to sneak into the kitchen for a second cookie while his mom was on the phone."

  2. Sneak as a verb (transitive):

    To take something stealthily without permission.

    Examples:

    "I went to sneak a chocolate but my dad caught me."

  3. Sneak as a verb (ditransitive):

    To stealthily bring someone something.

    Examples:

    "She asked me to sneak her a phone next month."

  4. Sneak as a verb (transitive, dated):

    To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.

  5. Sneak as a verb (intransitive):

    (informal, especially with on) To inform an authority about another's misdemeanours; to tell tales; to grass.

    Examples:

    "If you sneak on me I'll bash you!"

  1. Sneak as an adjective:

    In advance; before release to the general public.

    Examples:

    "The company gave us a sneak look at their new electronic devices."

  2. Sneak as an adjective:

    In a stealthy or surreptitious manner.

    Examples:

    "I was able to get a sneak peek at the guest list."

  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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