Meaning of highway robbery in English

highway robbery

noun [ U ]

US informal

/ˌhaɪ.weɪ ˈrɑː.bɚ.i/ uk

/ˌhaɪ.weɪ ˈrɒb.ər.i/

(UK daylight robbery)

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a situation in which you have to pay far too much money for something:

$20 for two drinks? That's highway robbery!

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to be expensive

cost a (small) fortuneThis trip cost a fortune.
cost an arm and a legDrinks at that bar cost an arm and a leg.
be highway robberyWe spent $50 on two drinks? That's highway robbery!
be daylight robberyWhat they're charging to get in is daylight robbery.
be a rip-offI'm sorry, but $200 for a concert ticket is a total rip-off.
be prohibitively expensiveThe cost of textbooks alone makes college prohibitively expensive for many.

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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Costing too much

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(Definition of highway robbery from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

highway robbery | Business English

highway robbery

noun [ U ]

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→ daylight robbery

(Definition of highway robbery from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of highway robbery

highway robbery

Lawmakers have come to rely on the assessments to help fund court and judicial operations, but some motorists consider them highway robbery.

From OCRegister

The interest rate amounts to highway robbery, you think, and what's worse is that everything compounds.

From Fast Company

Thus, to avoid highway robbery, the law allowed them to have their wedding ceremonies at home behind closed doors.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Equally, the muhimme and sikayet defterleri, in which cases of highway robbery are quite frequently mentioned, contain valuable indications with respect to the use of camels on certain routes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The conventional and successful course of highway robbery runs in the channel of a swift accomplishment and a rapid getaway.

From Project Gutenberg

Cases of "hi-jacking" became quite numerous about this time, but no redress from this highway robbery could be had.

From Project Gutenberg

If he insists upon living by highway robbery, it would be well to make him share his booty with us.

From Project Gutenberg

One bold creature was ushered in for committing highway robbery.

From Project Gutenberg

It isn't highway robbery at all within the meaning of the term.

From Project Gutenberg

To gain a few thousand dollars by highway robbery was no worse than to win it by a dozen other methods counted respectable.

From Project Gutenberg

The nature of the country, with its canyons, gulches, and mountain passes, was especially adapted to this means of highway robbery.

From Project Gutenberg

We can't commit highway robbery and deliberately pilfer her estate.

From Project Gutenberg

That which the plundered party loses in highway robbery is gained by the robber.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet he could not help being haunted by the thought that some thieves are too shrewd to assume the risks of highway robbery.

From Project Gutenberg

If that is not highway robbery, what is it?

From Project Gutenberg

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of highway robbery?