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
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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:
Without her example, would Taylor Swift have stood up to the hedge funds who bought her back catalogue, re-recording her biggest hits to rob them of royalties?
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
“This groundwater mining proposal would drain the desert and rob the Mojave of its rare springs and wildlife habitat,” said Chance Wilcox, California desert associate director of the National Parks Conservation Assn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
It has been designed by evil robots to rob wonder and suck the soul out of a beautiful game based on constant flow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
He screwed up his face to purposely make himself look tough, like we had come to rob the place.
From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds
I emailed a snapshot of the damage to Rob Bacharach, a Charlotte, N.C.–based certified financial planner my family has used for years, to look over the numbers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Paramount has committed to $1.5 billion more in domestic entertainment production over the next five years, which California Attorney General Rob Bonta has called a big win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
"It's been a privilege to watch the latter part of a great career," said Rob Key, managing director of England men's cricket.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Gen. Rob Bonta settled a multi-state lawsuit against Paramount Skydance on Monday, allowing its $111-billion purchase of Warner Bros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
As they talked, Rob mentioned that he and Walt had left their cat when they fled the storm.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
When Howl loses himself to a beastly form after attacking opposing forces in the war into which he’s drawn, it’s an allegory about how armed conflict robs us of our humanity.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Also, giving properties as gifts, rather than as inheritances, robs them of their tax-advantaged step-up in basis.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
Its inscrutability to ordinary people is part of what robs the document of whatever power it may have had at a third the length.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 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
It robs you of hope and even the memory of hope.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
Amad Diallo's current absence has robbed Carrick of the option to start Bryan Mbeumo at the head of his attack, as he did during pre-season, but Matheus Cunha is not without ability in that role.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
But, as Crow-Armstrong put it to Kelly, “When I do something for too long, it stops feeling comfortable, and I feel like I’m being robbed of my athleticism.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
His death robbed the Womack Sisters of a grandfather, but his musical legacy continues to influence them today.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
He became a suspect after a clerk at a dry cleaners that had been robbed saw Brambles at a motel and called police.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Wasn’t fair to get robbed of somebody I thought would be there for the rest of my life.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
Not only in the sheer existence of the AI itself, which is comprised of literal stolen material, but in robbing creators of their process.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 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
Related inflation concerns could still keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates, he cautioned, robbing small caps and other interest-rate-sensitive stocks of a key source of support.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026
He was robbing these folks blind, charging them a hundred percent markup on his cheap goods, and he was worried about them stealing from him!
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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.
