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
- antirobbery adjective
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:
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.
Brownstone pointed jurors to a series of text messages that Halem sent and received after the robbery.
From Los Angeles Times
The New York robbery, which police are yet to solve, was not an isolated incident.
From Barron's
The president of France's famed Palace of Versailles took over as head of the Louvre following a litany of problems at the world's most-visited museum including a $100-million jewellery robbery.
From Barron's
She had been under rising pressure since the October robbery, which is currently the subject of an inquiry.
From Barron's
Officials in Los Angeles County warned that elderly Asians withdrawing cash from automated teller machines to participate in a Lunar New Year tradition could be vulnerable to robberies.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
