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stealth

 - 3 dictionary results

stealth

  [stelth] ,
Use stealth in a Sentence
–noun
1. secret, clandestine, or surreptitious procedure.
2. a furtive departure or entrance.
3. Obsolete.
a. an act of stealing; theft.
b. the thing stolen; booty.
4. (initial capital letter) Military. a U.S. Air Force project involving a range of technologies, with the purpose of developing aircraft that are difficult to detect by sight, sound, radar, and infrared energy.
–adjective
5. surreptitious; secret; not openly acknowledged: a stealth hiring of the competitor's CEO; the stealth issue of the presidential race.
Origin:
1200–50; ME stelthe; cf. OE stælthing theft. See steal, -th 1

Related forms:
stealthful, adjective
stealth⋅ful⋅ly, adverb
stealthless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To stealth
stealth   (stělth)   
n.  

  1. The act of moving, proceeding, or acting in a covert way.

  2. The quality or characteristic of being furtive or covert.

  3. Archaic The act of stealing.

adj.  

  1. Not disclosing one's true ideology, affiliations, or positions: a stealth candidate.

  2. Having or providing the ability to prevent detection by radar: a stealth bomber; stealth technology.


[Middle English stelth, probably from Old English *stǣlth.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

stealth 
c.1250, "theft, action or practice of stealing," from O.E. *stælþ, which is related to stelen (see steal), from P.Gmc. *stælitho (cf. O.N. stulþr). Sense of "secret action" developed c.1300, but the word also retained its etymological sense into 18c. Got a boost as an adj. from stealth fighter, stealth bomber, radar-evading U.S. military aircraft, activated 1983. Stealthy is attested from 1605.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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