highway robbery

American  

noun

1. robbery committed on a highway against travelers, as by a highwayman.

2. Informal. a price or fee that is unreasonably high; exorbitant charge.

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highway robbery British  

noun

1. informal blatant overcharging

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highway robbery Idioms  

1. The exaction of an exorbitantly high price or fee. For example, You paid ten dollars for that meat? That's highway robbery. This term, used figuratively since the late 1800s, alludes to literal robbery of travelers on or near a public road.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• highway robber
  noun

Etymology

Origin of highway robbery

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

Larsson pulled off the equivalent of highway robbery when he stood in the crease after a Driedger kick save and used his stick to stop a rebound shot headed into a vacated net.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 14, 2021

“This is highway robbery without a gun. It’s not just us that they’re taking from. It’s our families who struggle to make ends meet and send us money, they are the real victims.”

From The Guardian • Jan. 15, 2018

I really don’t want to go back to the diapers and midnight feedings, etc., not to mention highway robbery of daycare costs.

From Slate • Oct. 6, 2015

John H. Garvey, president of Catholic University in Washington, recounted the parable of the Good Samaritan who helped a victim of highway robbery, even though the Samaritan was a foreigner in the country.

From Washington Post • Jul. 18, 2013

“You told your tale of highway robbery so well that it deceived even my ears.”

From Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 6, July 1905 by Various