(pronounced [stail]). The handle of various implements; as a rake-steal, a fork-steal. Used by the farmers in some parts of New England. Provincial in various parts of England.--Pickering.
·noun A handle; a stale, or stele. II. Steal ·vt To gain by insinuating arts or covert means. III....
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
the steal of any thing, the handle. S. ...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose