stolen, ppl. a.
(ˈstəʊlən)
Forms: see steal v.
[Pa. pple. of steal v.]
In senses of the verb.
1. Obtained by theft.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 4875 Qua-so es tan wid stoln thing, He wil þat do him to hing. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 154 Þere comeþ a pardoner wiþ stollen bullis & false relekis. 14.. Burgh Lawis lxxxvii. in Anc. Laws Scot. (Burgh Rec. Soc.) 42 Of stollyn gudis fundyn in the fayre. c 1440 Jacob's Well 201 Ȝif þou..kepyst treccherously in pryuite stolyn thynges or oþere thinges falsly get. 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 325 in Sat. Poems Reform. xlv, Mercurius..Could not so weill of stowen geir tell, As could [etc.]. 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. vi. 89 Do'st thou thinke Ile grace thee with that Robbery, thy stolne name Coriolanus in Corioles? 1611 Bible Prov. ix. 17 Stollen waters are sweet. c 1640 H. Bell Luther's Colloq. Mens. (1652) 309 The wealth of Popedom (saith Luther) is meerly robbed and stollen wealth. 1771 Junius Lett. lxv. 328 The stolen goods were found upon him. 1861 Paley æschylus (ed. 2) Supplices 897 note, [Hermes] the god of theft and abduction, and the recovery of stolen property. 1911 Trevelyan Garibaldi & Making of Italy vii. 147 The men were disconsolately cooking some stolen lambs. |
2. Accomplished or enjoyed by stealth, secret. Of a marriage: cf. steal v. 5 d.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1659 Such semblaunt to þat segge semly ho made, Wyth stille stollen countenaunce. c 1624 Chapman Hymn to Hermes 158 To shunn, of his stolne steps, the Tract. 1632 Massinger City Madam ii. i, And pleasures stol'n being sweetest [etc.]. 1693 Dryden Juvenal x. 521 'Tis no stol'n Wedding, this; rejecting awe, She scorns to Marry, but in Form of Law. a 1797 Burns ‘Twas na her bonie blue e'e’, The bewitching, sweet, stown glance o' kindness. 1803 J. Porter Thaddeus i, I have already erred enough in consenting to this stolen marriage. 1832 S. Warren Diary Late Physic. II. iv. 211 Few people, indeed, are so disposed to ‘make the most’ of their time at the opera as medical men, to whom it is a sort of stolen pleasure. 1837 Dickens Pickw. liv, Arabella wrote..to say he had made a stolen match without her husband's father's consent. 1884 J. Marshall's Tennis Cuts 65 We remembered that no cricket had ever been half so delightful as those stolen single-wicket matches in our night-gowns. 1905 R. Bagot Passport iii. 18 The girl at whom she had cast stolen glances of curiosity. |
b. stolen march: see steal v. 5 e.
| 1759 Dilworth Pope 21 It appears by Mr. Pope's frequent stolen marches on the public [etc.]. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xvi, Our spirit took the alarm at this stolen march upon us. |
c. Of a hen's nest: Made in a concealed place.
| 1854 Poultry Chron. I. 615 Eggs are to be sought after, and what a triumph is the discovery of a stolen nest! |
3. Of time: Obtained by contrivance.
| 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 367/1 Stolne time, or time gotten by snatches from other busines. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline i. i, These my retirements, and stolne times for thought. |
4. In Baseball: see quots.
| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 79/2 (Baseball) Stolen Base, a base obtained by a runner without help from a hit by a batsman. 1891 N. Crane Baseball 61 The record is still hardly complete without showing the number of sacrifice hits and stolen bases by each player. |
5. Of a crop: Interpolated in a rotation of crops.
| 1861 Times 10 Oct., Stolen crops of winter vetches..being also taken. |
6. Netting. Of a mesh: Intentionally missed. (See steal v. 7.)
| 1884 [see stole ppl. a.]. |
7. Comb. stolen-wise adv., stealthily.
| 1813 Scott Trierm. ii. xiii, And Lancelot, that evermore Look'd stol'n-wise on the Queen. |