rob

¹

[ rob ]

verb (used with object)

, robbed, rob·bing.

1. to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from.
2. to deprive (someone) of some right or something legally due:

   They robbed her of her inheritance.

   Synonyms: cheat, defraud

3. to plunder or rifle (a house, shop, etc.).
4. 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.

5. Mining. to remove ore or coal from (a pillar).

verb (used without object)

, robbed, rob·bing.

1. to commit or practice robbery.

Rob

²

[ rob ]

noun

1. a male given name, form of Robert.

rob

/ rɒb /

verb

1. tr to take something from (someone) illegally, as by force or threat of violence
2. to plunder (a house, shop, etc)
3. tr to deprive unjustly

   to be robbed of an opportunity

Derived Forms

• ˈrobber, noun

Other Words From

• un·robbed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rob¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English robben, from Old French robber, from Germanic; compare Old High German roubōn. See reave ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of rob¹

C13: from Old French rober , of Germanic origin; compare Old High German roubōn to rob

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. rob Peter to pay Paul, to take something from one person or thing to pay one's debt or hypothetical debt to another, as to sacrifice one's health by overworking.

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

The narrow lens through which craft chocolate is seen is not only to the detriment of Indigenous chocolate makers globally, but also robs consumers of the chacne to experience the multitude of ways chocolate is produced.

From Eater

Suddenly robbed of her dinner plans, she seemed stumped for an alternative.

From Fortune

For example, facial recognition systems that were never properly regulated before being developed and deployed are now so widely used as to rob people of their privacy.

From MIT Technology Review

He has been robbed of what could’ve been a new point in his life.

From Voice of San Diego

Palm oil expansion is also robbing orangutans, tigers, rhinos, and elephants of their natural habitats.

From Nautilus

He texted one of the other founding Santas, “Fuck you, Santa Rob.”

From The Daily Beast

Rob Marshall lets a sigh of relief erupt so loud it could be heard by giants in the sky.

From The Daily Beast

I was naive enough to assume that he would, at most, rob me.

From The Daily Beast

And then, the very next day, an email arrived from my English department: “Rob, were you expecting a letter from the Unabomber?!”

From The Daily Beast

This would give his gang plenty of time to rob the bank and make their getaway.

From The Daily Beast

He told her that he had sent us to look for it, and that we had taken advantage of the opportunity to rob the paymaster.

From Project Gutenberg

The thunder was the tocsin of the storm, but those who came to rob and kill moved unheralded in swift silence.

From Project Gutenberg

It occurred to him then that it was entirely possible that the rob and kill boys had not left the suburban town at all.

From Project Gutenberg

It recalled Ray Delancy, one of the most dangerous rob and kill men in the business.

From Project Gutenberg

They rob birds' nests of their eggs and young, they capture and devour snakes and other small animals.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bereave
• break into
• cheat
• defraud
• divest
• hijack
• loot
• lose
• mug
• plunder
• raid
• ransack
• strip

More About Rob

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.

Where does rob come from?

The first records of the verb rob come from around 1200. It comes from the Middle English robben, meaning “to rob.”

The word rob is used in several idioms, some of which use it in a literal sense and some of which use it in a figurative sense. To rob the till is to steal from one’s employer, such as by taking money from the cash register (a till is a money drawer). To rob someone blind is to steal a lot of money or other things from them or to thoroughly cheat them out of something through deception. To rob Peter to pay Paul is to take money or resources that are intended for one thing and apply them to another. An example is getting a loan from one person in order to pay a debt to another person, or taking resources from one department in a company to benefit another.

Did you know … ?

What are some other forms related to rob?

• robber (noun)
• robbery (noun)

What are some synonyms for rob?

• steal
• mug
• cheat
• plunder

What are some words that share a root or word element with rob? 

• armed robbery
• rob the till
• rob someone blind
• rob Peter to pay Paul

What are some words that often get used in discussing rob?

 

• bank
• store
• money
• valuables
• mugging
• gunpoint

 

How is rob used in real life?

Both the literal and figurative senses of rob are commonly used.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is asking the public for help finding a man who they say robbed a credit union on November 20.https://t.co/EHsCBRwFyb

— KSNV News 3 Las Vegas (@News3LV) December 18, 2020

Scanner: Man has been robbing convenience stores around Baltimore; hit Northern District today. No official word from dept #scanner

— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) November 5, 2014

Part of my personal refusal includes not letting technology rob me of my rest, imagination and silence.

— The Nap Ministry (@TheNapMinistry) December 3, 2020

Try using rob!

Is rob used correctly in the following sentence?

“This disease has robbed me of my sight, but not my dignity.”