# What does ‘steal someone's thunder’ mean?

To “steal someone's thunder” means to take credit for someone else's idea or upstage them. Brewer's records the origin: the dramatist John Dennis invented a new device for stage thunder for his 1704 play; when the play flopped and a rival theatre used his device, he cried, 'They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!'

## What it means

- Brewer's records the origin: the dramatist John Dennis invented a new device for stage thunder for his 1704 play; when the play flopped and a rival theatre used his device, he cried, 'They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!'

## Action steps

1. Common warning against upstaging.
2. Example: Don't announce it now — you'll steal her thunder.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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Published: 2026-07-18T04:16:35.27148+00:00
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Last verified: 2026-07-18
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