walk off with

walk off with

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

     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?," 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, "Tennis: A 12th for Harry," Time, 9 Oct.:

     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 1 Oct., Anne Midgette, "Met Opera Review: A Prince Charming More Than Charming," 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.

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

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