Stole is the past tense of steal, which means to take something that belongs to someone else without permission and without intending to return it. If someone stole your lunch from your backpack, they took it secretly, knowing it wasn't theirs. If a thief stole a painting from a museum, they removed it illegally and planned to keep it or sell it.

Stealing is different from borrowing, even if you forget to ask first. When you borrow something, you plan to give it back. When you steal, you take it for yourself. It's also different from finding something lost: if you find a wallet on the sidewalk and keep it instead of turning it in, you've essentially stolen it from whoever lost it.

The word can also be used in sports: a baseball player steals a base by running to it before the other team can tag them out. That kind of stealing is perfectly legal in the game and takes skill and courage.

People also use stole figuratively to describe taking attention or credit. If someone tells your joke and gets all the laughs, you might say they stole your joke. If a surprising plot twist in a movie captivates everyone, you could say it stole the show.