v.
(robs, robbing, robbed)
- take property unlawfully from (a person or place) by force or threat of force.
▸informal or dialect steal (something).
▸informal overcharge.
-
(rob someone of)
deprive someone of (something needed or deserved).
Phrase
- rob Peter to pay Paul
deprive one person of something in order to pay another.
[prob. with ref. to the saints and apostles Peter and Paul.]
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from OFr. rober, of Gmc origin; rel. to reave.