HIGHWAY ROBBERY Definition & Meaning

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highway robbery

noun

robbery committed on a highway against travelers, as by a highwayman.
Informal. a price or fee that is unreasonably high; exorbitant charge.

highway robbery

noun

informal.
blatant overcharging

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Other �y��vlog Forms

highway robber noun

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of highway robbery¹

First recorded in 1770–80

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Idioms and Phrases

The exaction of an exorbitantly high price or fee. For example, You paid ten dollars for that meat? That's highway robbery . This term, used figuratively since the late 1800s, alludes to literal robbery of travelers on or near a public road.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Higher distribution costs on the back of widespread crime including highway robberies, plus increased weather-related issues like floods and drought, are also driving price rises, he said.

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Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted: “Our ties must not be hampered by deeply shortsighted miscalculations, including highway robbery on the command of a 3rd party.”

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Empyreal’s lawsuit described the traffic stops of their armored cars as “highway robberies” by law enforcement agencies seeking to fund their operations with cash taken through forfeiture.

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Empyreal’s lawsuit describes the traffic stops of their trucks as “highway robberies” by government agents seeking to pad their budgets with forfeiture money.

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Under the circumstances, refusing to submit to such instances of D.C. “highway robbery” could be a legitimate act of civil disobedience.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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