Definition

Noun: 1. The crime of robbing travelers on a public road: Historically, this refers to the act of stopping and stealing from people traveling on a road. 2. A grossly excessive price or charge: A figurative and common modern usage meaning a price that is so unfairly high it feels like being robbed.

Usage Examples

• Literal meaning (historical/crime):
  • In the 18th century, highway robbery was a common danger for stagecoach passengers.
• Figurative meaning (exorbitant price):
  • Ten dollars for a cup of coffee? That's highway robbery!
  • The mechanic charged me five hundred dollars to change a tire; it was pure highway robbery.

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost always used in the figurative sense in modern conversation to express outrage or disbelief at a price.
• It functions as a predicate noun, often following the verb "to be" (e.g., "That is highway robbery").

Variants and Related Words

• Robbery (n.): The general crime of taking property unlawfully.
• Daylight robbery (n., chiefly British): A synonym for the figurative meaning of an exorbitant price.
• Overcharge (v./n.): To charge too high a price; the price itself.

Synonyms

• Exorbitant price
• Rip-off (informal)
• Gouging
• Extortionate charge

Related Idioms

• To pay through the nose: To pay an excessively high price for something.
  • We paid through the nose for those concert tickets.
• A king's ransom: A very large amount of money.
  • That designer handbag costs a king's ransom.

Noun

1. robbery of travellers on or near a public road
2. an exorbitant price
   • what they are asking for gas these days is highway robbery