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

• highway robber
  noun

Etymology

Origin of highway robbery

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

highway robbery

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

What they will receive—or at least, what he wants to offer—is highway robbery.

From Slate ● May 23, 2017

While we wait to learn whether his largess has unexpected consequences, let us savor Mike’s highway robbery.

From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2016

"Do ye ken, Muster Bell," said he at last, "that's precisely what I'm thinkin' it is mysel'—juist highway robbery."

From Fore! by Loan, Charles Emmett Van