klauen

Etymology
From earlier, from , , from , , , from. Later remodelled after and related to, that is “to grab with one’s claws”. The sense “to steal” originated in West Central German and Low Franconian, and is supposed to have been spread among soldiers during World War I.

Verb

 * 1)  to steal

Usage notes

 * Klauen is the most common word for “to steal” in colloquial German. Written standard German generally prefers, although klauen is also seen here and there.
 * The syntactical construction is identical to that of stehlen (see there).

Verb

 * 1)  to steal, to nick, to pinch