highway\ robbery

highway\ robbery
n. phr.
1. A hold-up of or theft from a person committed on an open road or street usually by an armed man.

Highway robbery was common in England in Shakespeare's day.

2. An extremely high price or charge; a profiteer's excessive charge.

To someone from a small town, the prices of meals and theater tickets in New York often seem to be highway robbery.


Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". . 1997.

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  • highway robbery — {n. phr.} 1. A hold up of or theft from a person committed on an open road or street usually by an armed man. * /Highway robbery was common in England in Shakespeare s day./ 2. An extremely high price or charge; a profiteer s excessive charge. *… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • highway robbery — {n. phr.} 1. A hold up of or theft from a person committed on an open road or street usually by an armed man. * /Highway robbery was common in England in Shakespeare s day./ 2. An extremely high price or charge; a profiteer s excessive charge. *… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • highway robbery — ˌhighway ˈrobbery noun [uncountable] informal a situation where something costs much more than it should: • In my opinion, their pricing is highway robbery. * * * highway robbery UK US noun [U] US ► DAYLIGHT ROBBERY(Cf. ↑ …   Financial and business terms

  • highway robbery — Something that is ridiculously expensive, especially when you have no choice but to pay, is a highway robbery …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • Highway robbery — High way rob ber*y, n. 1. Robbery committed on the public roads. [PJC] 2. An excessively high price or fee; used especially in situations where the buyer has little or no choice but to buy the item offered. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Highway Robbery — is a Hardy Boys novel.The Hardy Boys try to crack open a case involving trucks, and a hijacking scheme. They go undercover, and try to solve the mystery. But they will need to solve it before time runs out, or things could turn ugly …   Wikipedia

  • highway robbery — noun uncount AMERICAN SPOKEN used for saying that you think something is much too expensive …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • highway robbery — noun 1. an exorbitant price what they are asking for gas these days is highway robbery • Hypernyms: ↑price, ↑terms, ↑damage 2. robbery of travellers on or near a public road • Hypernyms: ↑robbery * * * …   Useful english dictionary

  • highway robbery — n. a charge that is unbelievably high, but nonetheless unavoidable. (As if one had been accosted and robbed on the open road.) □ But this is highway robbery. I demand to see the manager. □ Four thousand dollars! That’s highway robbery! …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • highway robbery — noun a) The act of robbing a traveler on a public road. They think they can charge $400 for a shirt? Thats highway robbery. b) Said of excessive or exorbitant prices. Syn: daylight robbery …   Wiktionary

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