walk off with

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

walk off with (third-person singular simple present walks off with, present participle walking off with, simple past and past participle walked off with)

1. (idiomatic) To steal, especially by surreptitiously removing an unguarded item.
   • 1871, Horatio Alger, chapter 12, in Paul the Peddler:

     While Mike Donovan was engaged in his contest with Paul, his companion had quietly walked off with the shirt.

   • 1903, Jack London, The Leopard Man's Story:

     I went looking for Red Denny, the head canvas-man, who had walked off with my pocket-knife.

   • 2011 April 11, Sara J. Welch, “Gee, How Did That Towel End Up in My Suitcase?”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 May 2011:

     Hotel guests may want to think twice now before walking off with that bathrobe.

2. (idiomatic) To win, as in a contest and especially without significant effort.
   • 1964 October 9, “Tennis: A 12th for Harry”, in Time:

     Last week in Cleveland, Harry Hopman's Aussies walked off with tennis' top trophy, the Davis Cup.

3. (idiomatic, performing arts, of a performer) To make the strongest favorable impression in a theatrical or similar performance, in comparison to other performers.
   • 1942, "Cinema: New Picture" (film review of The Pied Piper), Time, 10 Aug.:

     But kindliness does not prevent elegant Actor Woolley from walking off with the picture against the trying competition of six scene-stealing children.

   • 2002 October 1, Anne Midgette, “Met Opera Review: A Prince Charming More Than Charming”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 May 2011:

     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.

Synonyms

• (steal): abscond with, pilfer, thieve (verb)
• (performing arts): steal the show

References

• “walk off with”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.