steal a kiss
English
editVerb
editsteal a kiss (third-person singular simple present steals a kiss, present participle stealing a kiss, simple past stole a kiss, past participle stolen a kiss)
- To kiss someone secretly or discreetly.
- c. 1415-1440 (date written), Charles, Duke of Orléans, reproduced by E. K. Chambers, Early English Lyrics: Amorous, Divine, Moral and Trivial (1907), p. 31:
- My ghostly fader, I me confesse,
First to God and then to you,
That at a window,—wot ye how?—
I stale a cosse of grete sweteness.
- My ghostly fader, I me confesse,
- c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], page 26, column 2:
- To beare my Ladies traine, leſt the baſe earth / Should from her venture chance to ſteale a kiſſe, / And of ſo great a fauor growing proud,
- 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC:
- She accepted these terms, and slid off on the near side, though not till he had stolen a cursory kiss.
- 1948, Nacio Herb Brown, Edward Heyman (lyrics and music), “If I Steal A Kiss”, performed by Frank Sinatra:
- If I steal a kiss, dear, I'll surely return it someday / If I steal your dreams, dear, I'll bring them back some way
- c. 1415-1440 (date written), Charles, Duke of Orléans, reproduced by E. K. Chambers, Early English Lyrics: Amorous, Divine, Moral and Trivial (1907), p. 31:
Translations
editto kiss someone secretly or discreetly
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