rob
[ rob ]
/ rɒb /
verb (used with object), robbed, rob·bing.
to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from.
to deprive (someone) of some right or something legally due: They robbed her of her inheritance.
to plunder or rifle (a house, shop, etc.).
to deprive of something unjustly or injuriously: The team was robbed of a home run hitter when the umpire called it a foul ball. The shock robbed him of his speech.
Mining.
to remove ore or coal from (a pillar).
verb (used without object), robbed, rob·bing.
to commit or practice robbery.
Idioms for rob
rob Peter to pay Paul,
to take something from one person or thing to pay one's debt or hypothetical debt to another, as to sacrifice one's health by overworking.
Origin of rob
1175–1225; Middle English
robben < Old French
robber < Germanic; compare Old High German
roubōn. See
reave1
SYNONYMS FOR rob
1
Rob,
rifle,
sack refer to seizing possessions that belong to others.
Rob is the general word for taking possessions by unlawful force or violence:
to rob a bank, a house, a train. A term with a more restricted meaning is
rifle, to make a thorough search for what is valuable or worthwhile, usually within a small space:
to rifle a safe. On the other hand,
sack is a term for robbery on a huge scale during war; it suggests destruction accompanying pillage, and often includes the indiscriminate massacre of civilians:
to sack a town or district.
2 defraud, cheat.
OTHER WORDS FROM rob
un·robbed, adjectiveWORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH rob
burglarize mug rip off rob steal (see synonym study at the current entry)Words nearby rob
British Dictionary definitions for rob peter to pay paul
rob
/ (rɒb) /
verb robs, robbing or robbed
(tr)
to take something from (someone) illegally, as by force or threat of violence
to plunder (a house, shop, etc)
(tr)
to deprive unjustly
to be robbed of an opportunity
Derived forms of rob
robber, nounWord Origin for rob
C13: from Old French
rober, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German
roubōn to rob
Cultural definitions for rob peter to pay paul
rob Peter to pay Paul
To harm one person in order to do good to another; by extension, to use money or resources set aside for one purpose for a different one.
Idioms and Phrases with rob peter to pay paul
rob Peter to pay Paul
Take from one to give to another, shift resources. For example, They took out a second mortgage on their house so they could buy a condo in Florida—they're robbing Peter to pay Paul. Although legend has it that this expression alludes to appropriating the estates of St. Peter's Church, in Westminster, London, to pay for the repairs of St. Paul's Cathedral in the 1800s, the saying first appeared in a work by John Wycliffe about 1382.