音読み: トウ
訓読み: ぬすむ
画数: 11
部首: さら（皿）
Meaning
Steal / Rob
- Basic forms
- 盗む — steal / base form
- 盗みます — steals / masu form
- 盗んだ — stole / ta form
- 盗んで — stealing … / te form
- 盗まない — do not steal / negative
- 盗めば — if (one) steals / conditional
- Common expressions
- お金を盗む — steal money
- 財布を盗む — steal a wallet
- 目を盗む — do something unnoticed
- More
- 盗んでいる — is stealing / state
盗む（ぬすむ） is a godan transitive verb. It means to take something secretly without permission, and is also used in set expressions such as 目を盗む (“to do something unnoticed”).
- 盗難 — theft; burglary
- 盗む — to steal
- 盗人 — thief; robber
- 盗聴 — wiretapping; illegal eavesdropping
- 盗作 — plagiarism; literary theft
- 強盗 — robbery; armed robbery
- 窃盗 — theft (legal / formal term)
With the dish radical 皿 at the bottom, 盗 suggests a hand quietly reaching over a container to take what is on it. From that image of secretly taking from someone’s plate comes the idea of stealing, robbery, and hidden theft.