robbery
Americannoun
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criminal law the stealing of property from a person by using or threatening to use force
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the act or an instance of robbing
Usage
What does robbery mean? Robbery is the act of robbing—stealing, especially by force or through threats of violence. Someone who commits robbery is called a robber. Robbery can involve robbing a person or a place, such as a house or business. The robbery of a person on the street is often called a mugging. The act of robbing a bank is called bank robbery. Armed robbery involves robbing a person or place while armed with a weapon. Robbery is a kind of theft, which is the act of stealing. However, the word theft often refers to a case in which a thief steals something without anyone noticing, at least not when the theft is taking place. In contrast, a case in which a person steals by using force, violence, or threats of violence would more likely be called a robbery. The word rob can also be used in a kind of figurative way meaning to unfairly deprive someone of something, but robbery is usually only used in a literal sense. Example: Police have released sketches of the suspects in the hopes that someone can identify the men involved in the robbery.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of robbery
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English robberie from Old French. See rob, -ery
Compare meaning
How does robbery compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A person who steals money from a convenience store by claiming to have a gun under his shirt is guilty of robbery, or using a violent threat to take something that doesn't belong to him. Whether a criminal wields a weapon or just threatens to hurt someone while stealing from that person, he is committing robbery. Robbery is different from burglary — breaking into a house or building to steal — because it involves a threat of danger to a person. Carjackings, stick-ups, and muggings are all different kinds of robbery.
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:
"This name is the tip of the iceberg," Yeni leader Ozgur Ozel told a party meeting on Wednesday, describing the scandal as "the robbery of the century".
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
The damage was caused by supporters of George Davis, who had been jailed for armed robbery the previous year.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
A man in Wichita Falls, Texas, just across the state line, said that he’d sold a Kawasaki Ninja sport bike to Oxford and Walters after the robbery; they’d paid $3,200 in $100 bills.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Five works by the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari that were also taken during the robbery have not yet been recovered.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The robbery of time is not measured in lifespans but in moments.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The heist is the latest in a string of such robberies in France including the daylight theft last year of crown jewellery valued at around $100 million from the Louvre in Paris.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Several robberies targeting Pokémon cards have occurred across several states in 2026 alone.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
Brambles took medical leave in November 1993, then retired the following March, two months after the robberies began.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
She was moved to Lower Saxony, where many of the robberies had taken place, to stand trial.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
The anchors switch to news about a rash of robberies in a neighborhood on the other side of town.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
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.
