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:
The case came to the Supreme Court from a bank robbery that happened in Richmond, Virginia, in 2019.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
The detective sought data on phones that were within 150 yards of the credit union within one hour of the late afternoon robbery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The case was brought by Okello Chatrie, identified as a suspect in a 2019 Virginia bank robbery after investigators obtained a warrant to search cellphone location data stored by Google.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Soon afterwards, investigating officers became convinced they had their men and the Cardiff Newsagent Three were all charged with murder and robbery before going on trial in June 1988.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
She has Bobo admitting to being in on the robbery and his link to King.
From "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers
In Westminster, where between 69% and 72% of thefts from the person and personal robberies each week involve phones, there has been a reduction of 45.8% so far this year.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
And the follow-home robberies and street takeovers that captured the public’s attention in recent years have largely subsided.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
Court records from the Old Bailey reveal that people often prioritized their hats over money during robberies.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026
More than eight million Venezuelans fled over the last 12 years, including many criminals whose profits from robberies, kidnappings and extortion had dried up, security analysts said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
He had seen no robberies in his neighborhood thus far.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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.
