Definition

1. Verb:
   • To take property unlawfully from a person or place by force or threat of force: This is the primary legal meaning, involving theft with direct confrontation or intimidation.
   • To deprive someone of something belonging to them, often unjustly or deceitfully: This extends the meaning beyond physical theft to include abstract losses, such as rights, opportunities, or time.

Usage

• The verb rob is typically used with a direct object referring to the person or place from which something is stolen. The thing stolen is introduced with the preposition "of".
  • Correct: They robbed the bank. (Place as object)
  • Correct: They robbed him of his wallet. (Person as object + 'of' + stolen item)
  • Incorrect: They robbed his wallet. (Avoid using the stolen item as the direct object).

Examples

• Verb:
  • The masked men robbed the convenience store at gunpoint.
  • The corrupt official was accused of robbing the public treasury.
  • The illness robbed her of her strength for months.
  • A poor decision robbed the team of its chance to win the championship.

Advanced Usage

• "to rob Peter to pay Paul": To take from one source, often causing harm or deficit, to pay or give to another. It describes solving one problem by creating another.

  • Using his rent money to fix his car was just robbing Peter to pay Paul.

• "to rob someone blind": To steal a great deal from someone, often through deceit.

  • The dishonest contractor robbed the elderly couple blind.

Variants and Related Words

• Robber (n): A person who commits robbery.

  • The robber was apprehended by the police.

• Robbery (n): The specific criminal act of taking property from a person through force or intimidation.

  • He was charged with armed robbery.

• Robbed (adj): The state of having been a victim of robbery.

  • She felt violated and robbed after the break-in.

Synonyms

• Steal: To take another's property without permission or legal right. (Note: 'Steal' focuses on the item taken; 'rob' focuses on the victim or place.)
• Burglarize: To break into a building to commit theft. (Focuses on the illegal entry.)
• Plunder: To steal goods, typically using force and in a time of war or chaos.
• Deprive: To deny someone the possession or use of something (often used for non-material things, similar to the abstract use of 'rob').

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Rob of: This is the standard construction, not a separable phrasal verb. It is the required pattern for stating what was taken.
  • The scandal robbed the politician of his credibility.

Related Idioms

• Daylight robbery: Used to describe a situation where something (especially a price) is considered outrageously unfair or expensive, as if one is being stolen from in broad daylight.
  • Five dollars for a bottle of water? That's daylight robbery!

Verb

1. rip off; ask an unreasonable price
2. take something away by force or without the consent of the owner
   • The burglars robbed him of all his money