偷 meaning in English

tōu

to steal; (bound form) thief

HSK 5verbadverb11 strokes

Meaning of 偷

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

tōu

to steal
(bound form) thief
(bound form) secretly; on the sly

How to use 偷

偷 is used as a verb meaning to steal, and in compounds it adds the sense of doing something secretly, as in 偷看 (tōukàn, to peek) or 偷懒 (tōulǎn, to slack off). Example: 我的手机被偷了。(Wǒ de shǒujī bèi tōu le.) My phone was stolen.

偷 (tōu) has the person radical 亻 on the left and 俞 on the right. Picture a person (亻) quietly slipping something away when no one is watching.

Common mistake: Learners often use 偷 alone for 'thief'. In everyday speech you need 小偷 (xiǎotōu), because 偷 by itself is the action of stealing. Also keep the tone flat and high: it is tōu, not tóu like 头 (tóu, head).

偷 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ在zài火huǒ车chē上shàng给gěi偷tōu了le东dōng西xī。

I had my pocket picked on the train.

昨zuó晚wǎn睡shuì觉jiào之zhī前qián家jiā里lǐ进jìn了le小xiǎo偷tōu。

Last night my house was robbed while I was still awake.

有yǒu人rén把bǎ我wǒ的de钱qián都dōu偷tōu了le。

Someone stole all my money.

我wǒ的de手shǒu提tí电diàn话huà给gěi偷tōu了le。

My mobile has been stolen.

我wǒ认rèn为wéi我wǒ知zhī道dào谁shuí偷tōu了le你nǐ的de手shǒu表biǎo。

I think I know who stole your watch.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

偷 tōu · to steal · 11 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 偷.

偷偷	tōutōu	stealthily; secretly
小偷儿	xiǎotōur	erhua form of 小偷[xiao3 tou1]
偷看	tōukàn	to peep; to peek
偷窥	tōukuī	to peep; to peek
偷懒	tōulǎn	to be lazy when effort is expected; to slack off
小偷	xiǎotōu	thief
偷窃	tōuqiè	to steal; to pilfer
偷听	tōutīng	to eavesdrop; to monitor (secretly)
偷袭	tōuxí	to mount a sneak attack; to raid
偷偷摸摸	tōutōumōmō	(idiom) surreptitious; sneaky
偷情	tōuqíng	to carry on a clandestine love affair
偷渡	tōudù	illegal immigration; to stowaway (on a ship)

Questions about 偷

What does 偷 mean?

偷 (tōu) means "to steal; (bound form) thief" and is used as a verb and adverb.

How do you write 偷?

偷 is made of 1 character: 偷 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.

Is 偷 an HSK word?

Yes. 偷 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 偷 and 抢?

偷 (tōu) means to steal secretly, without the victim noticing. 抢 (qiǎng) means to rob or snatch openly, often by force.

How do you use 偷偷 in a sentence?

偷偷 (tōutōu) goes before the verb as an adverb meaning secretly. For example, 他偷偷地走了。(Tā tōutōu de zǒu le.) He left quietly without telling anyone.