rob
verb (used with object)
to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from.
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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
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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)
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robs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
robbed,
past participle, past
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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:
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 demonstrated strength and awareness to rob Tunisia captain Ellyes Skhiri and set up a goal for strike partner Viktor Gyokeres in the second half.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
“Did you hear about Gringotts? It’s been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don’t suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault.”
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
Last week, Ellison threatened to move the company out of California if the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta, did not negotiate on his lawsuit.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Riley said it has been exciting to have Rob Ryan return for a second year to be the assistant head coach for the defense, working alongside Patterson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
And Rob Robotti shared three “HALO” stocks — which stands for hard assets, low obsolescence — that he expects to perform well during the AI build-out.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Rob Bradley, who was on the train with his six-year-old daughter, said it was "pandemonium".
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
A little ways down the street, I spy Rob and Kelly.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
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
ALS, a progressive and terminal motor neuron disease, robs a person of the ability to move and, ultimately, to breathe, according to the Mayo Clinic.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
Humorous responses to rage bait, which depends on eliciting defensiveness that can be fed back into the outrage machine, robs it of oxygen.
From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2025
It robs you of hope and even the memory of hope.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
Robert said he feels "robbed" of time with his "special" daughter.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
All of this is familiar from before, but robbed of the expressive capacity of animation it ends up feeling considerably more wooden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Had the advent of intensive parenting robbed the holiday of its spark?
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
Sarnoski’s attachment to the myth of Robin Hood — a dashing man of the people who robbed from the rich to give to the poor — has deep roots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Tiny flecks of skin, parched from dry-cleaning clothes, ironing shirts, “heavy on the starch,” stand up searching for the moisture that was robbed day after day for eleven years.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
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
Harry privately felt he’d rather face Slytherins legendary monster than let Snape catch him robbing his office.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
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.
