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rob

Pronunciation: /rɒb/
Translate rob | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of rob

verb (robs, robbing, robbed)

[with object]
  • take property unlawfully from (a person or place) by force or threat of force:he tried, with three others, to rob a bank she was robbed of her handbag
  • informal overcharge (someone) for something:Bob thinks my suit cost £70, and even then he thinks I was robbed
  • informal or dialect steal:someone had robbed my jacket
  • (rob someone of) deprive someone of (something needed or deserved):poor health has robbed her of a normal social life
  • Soccer deprive (an opposing player) of the ball:Hughes robbed Vonk yards inside the City half

Phrases

rob Peter to pay Paul

take something away from one person to pay another; discharge one debt only to incur another: mainstream funding for the college was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, reducing the budget all around for other colleges
[probably with reference to the saints and apostles Peter and Paul; the allusion is uncertain, the phrase often showing variations such as 'unclothe Peter and clothe Paul', 'borrow from Peter …', etc.]

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French rober, of Germanic origin; related to the verb reave

rob in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of rob in the US English dictionary

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