Dictionary

walk off with en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To steal, especially by surreptitiously removing an unguarded item.
   • Hotel guests may want to think twice now before walking off with that bathrobe. 2011 April 11, Sara J. Welch, “Gee, How Did That Towel End Up in My Suitcase?”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 May 2011:
   • While Mike Donovan was engaged in his contest with Paul, his companion had quietly walked off with the shirt. 1871, Horatio Alger, chapter 12, in Paul the Peddler:
   • I went looking for Red Denny, the head canvas-man, who had walked off with my pocket-knife. 1903, Jack London, The Leopard Man's Story:
2. (idiomatic) To win, as in a contest and especially without significant effort.
   • Last week in Cleveland, Harry Hopman's Aussies walked off with tennis' top trophy, the Davis Cup. 1964 October 9, “Tennis: A 12th for Harry”, in Time:
3. (idiomatic, of a performer, qualifier:performing arts) To make the strongest favorable impression in a theatrical or similar performance, in comparison to other performers.
   • But kindliness does not prevent elegant Actor Woolley from walking off with the picture against the trying competition of six scene-stealing children. 1942, "Cinema: New Picture" (film review of The Pied Piper), Time, 10 Aug.
   • But in "La Cenerentola," Rossini's version of the fairy tale, which returned to the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday night, Juan Diego Flórez, the 29-year-old Peruvian tenor, walked off with the show. 2002 October 1, Anne Midgette, “Met Opera Review: A Prince Charming More Than Charming”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 May 2011:

Forms

Synonyms

pilfer (steal) · abscond with (steal) · thieve (steal) · steal the show (performing arts)