rob
verb (used with object)
to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from.
rob
1 American
[rob]
/ rɒb /
verb (used with object)
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robs,
present (3rd person singular)
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robbed,
past participle, past
-
robbing
present participle
-
to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from.
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to deprive (someone) of some right or something legally due.
They robbed her of her inheritance.
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to plunder or rifle (a house, shop, etc.).
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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.
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Mining. to remove ore or coal from (a pillar).
verb (used without object)
-
robs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
robbed,
past participle, past
-
robbing
present participle
idioms
Rob
2
American
[rob]
/ rɒb /
noun
rob
British
/ rɒb /
verb
-
(tr) to take something from (someone) illegally, as by force or threat of violence
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to plunder (a house, shop, etc)
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(tr) to deprive unjustly
to be robbed of an opportunity
Usage
What does rob mean? To rob is to steal, especially by force or through threats of violence. A person who robs is called a robber, and the act of robbing is called robbery. A robber can rob a person or a place, such as a house or business. The act of robbing a person on the street is often called mugging. The act of robbing a bank is called bank robbery and a person who does it is called a bank robber. Armed robbery involves robbing a person or place while armed with a weapon. Rob and steal are often used interchangeably in terms of their general meaning, but their use within a sentence often differs. The word rob often focuses on the victim of the theft (whether it’s a person or a place), whereas steal often focuses on what has been stolen. So you can rob a bank, a person, or a house, whereas you steal money, diamonds, or cars. A bank robber doesn’t steal banks (unless they’re Carmen Sandiego, maybe)—they steal money from banks. However, the word rob is sometimes followed by the word of and the thing that’s been taken, as in She robbed me of thousands of dollars! The word rob can also be used in a kind of figurative way meaning to unfairly deprive someone of something, especially something abstract or intangible. If someone prevents you from doing something, you can say they robbed you of the chance to do it. Death is said to rob us of our loved ones. If someone loses a competition not because they were fairly defeated but because of some technicality, they might say “I was robbed!”Unrelatedly, the name Rob is short for Robert. Example: The suspect is accused of robbing seven banks during a three-month period.
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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robsimple
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robssimple
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have robbedperfect
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has robbedperfect
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am robbingprogressive
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are robbingprogressive
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is robbingprogressive
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have been robbingperfect progressive
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has been robbingperfect progressive
Past
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robbedsimple
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had robbedperfect
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was robbingprogressive
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were robbingprogressive
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had been robbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rob
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English robben, from Old French robber, from Germanic; compare Old High German roubōn. See reave 1
Explanation
To rob is to steal something using violence (or the threat of violence). A criminal might rob a bank by pretending to have a weapon. Use the verb rob when you're talking about a crime — like when a bandit robs a train in the movies, or an outlaw robs the general store on TV. You can also use it to mean "deprive," as in "Having to ride my bike to school is only going to rob me of my energy by the time I get there." Rob comes from the Old French rober, "rob, steal, or ransack."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A World Cup without European teams would rob it of three out of four semi-finalists from this summer's competition and six of the eight quarter-finalists.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
He made a full-speed tumbling catch in the right-field gap to rob Austin Wells of an extra-base hit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
“All they do is rob us, even in the midst of a tragedy,” said retiree Vayamin Delgado, who said police looted her damaged home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
He demonstrated strength and awareness to rob Tunisia captain Ellyes Skhiri and set up a goal for strike partner Viktor Gyokeres in the second half.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
Then Natalie said, “I’m pretty sure Chess is right. Your mom didn’t rob a bank.”
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Gen. Rob Bonta’s office summarized a strict new voter ID measure on November ballots — ruling that the summary language accurately describes the measure’s effects were it to pass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
On TV, actors Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds’ excursion into the wild world of British Premier football, “Welcome to Wrexham,” recently expanded to include a women’s team, the Red Dragons.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
In “Unhittable,” Rob Friedman tracks the transformation of pitching from art into science.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Oregon-based Enderle Group, said he expects more layoffs at other TikTok U.S. office locations due to the new ownership.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Rob says I don’t believe in true love.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Also, giving properties as gifts, rather than as inheritances, robs them of their tax-advantaged step-up in basis.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
But the absence of warmth in the performance robs the denouement of a portion of its awful pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
“Change” exerted on another through force robs the receiving party of the dignity of authoring their own life path.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
His death robs the nation of a brilliant, witty commentator who was never afraid to stand against the consensus.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
“Because,” Natalie said, “it looks like every single one of these bills is either a one or a five. If someone robs a bank, they take twenties, at least. Probably even fifties or hundreds.”
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
They agreed that being exactly right all of the time wasn’t worth the misery of waiting so long to witness a goal—and then being robbed of that moment of ecstasy when it gets overturned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Had the advent of intensive parenting robbed the holiday of its spark?
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
He said the squad had been "robbed" of preparation time and given "less than half" the training window it needed, while other teams had enjoyed normal conditions.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
The Knicks winning the finals as fast as they did actually robbed the arena itself of a major spending event, a possibility that my colleagues Nate Wolf and Janet H. Cho pointed out last week.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
And there’s Hilda, who is always worried Imre will be robbed because he sells diamond rings on Forty-Seventh Street, and their children, Eva and Ezra, who are too shy to talk.
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
“Without Congress, failed professionals will continue to use college sports as a fallback option — robbing the next class of young athletes of college scholarships,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Data-center titans buy huge amounts of memory at higher prices, robbing Apple of its leverage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Now Spirit is gone, robbing us all of the airline likeliest to pester United, Delta, and American into lowering their prices more quickly once fuel prices go down.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
“This is robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez about the funding decision.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2026
“Well, don’t make it sound like you’re robbing the cradle or something,” Dimple said.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
