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

Molly got five bucks, and Fred let her know it was frickin’ highway robbery.

From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 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

Four years passed, and the jaghirdar obtained wealth and consideration, and was made, let us say, a Khan Bahadur, and an Honorary Magistrate; but the bhumia remained in gaol and thought over the highway robbery.

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Kipling, Rudyard