rob

To steal the earnings of a shop or restaurant from out of its cash register. Just remember, this place has insurance, so if anyone comes in with a gun looking to rob the till, you don't offer up any resistance, OK? I hear Janet was fired from her last job for robbing the till.

Fig. to take or borrow from one in order to give or pay something owed to another. Why borrow money to pay your bills? That's just robbing Peter to pay Paul. There's no point in robbing Peter to pay Paul. You will still be in debt.

to deprive someone of something, not necessarily by theft. What you have done has robbed me of my dignity! If you do that, you will rob yourself of your future.

Fig. to marry or date someone who is much younger than oneself. I hear that Bill is dating Ann. Isn't that sort of robbing the cradle? She's much younger than he is. Uncle Bill—who is nearly eighty—married a thirty-year-old woman. That is really robbing the cradle.

to borrow money from someone in order to give to someone else the money that you already owe them Then I'd take out another loan to pay my debts, robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Also, with one's fingers in the till; have one's hand in the cookie jar. Stealing from one's employer. For example, He was caught with his hand in the till and was fired immediately, or They suspected she had her hand in the cookie jar but were waiting for more evidence. The noun till has been used for a money box or drawer since the 15th century; cookie jar, perhaps alluding to the "sweets" of money, dates only from about 1940.

Take from one to give to another, shift resources. For example, They took out a second mortgage on their house so they could buy a condo in Florida-they're robbing Peter to pay Paul . Although legend has it that this expression alludes to appropriating the estates of St. Peter's Church, in Westminster, London, to pay for the repairs of St. Paul's Cathedral in the 1800s, the saying first appeared in a work by John Wycliffe about 1382.

Cheat someone in an unusually deceitful or thorough fashion, as in The nurse was robbing the old couple blind. This idiom may allude to robbing a blind beggar, who cannot see that the cup collecting donations is being emptied. [Mid-1900s]

Have a romantic or sexual relationship with someone much younger than oneself, as in The old editor was notorious for robbing the cradle, always trying to date some young reporter . [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]

Also, rob someone blind. Rob or cheat someone mercilessly, as in Ann always maintained that children would steal their parents blind. The allusion here is unclear. Possibly it means stealing everything, including someone's sight. [Mid-1900s]

Also, we was robbed or we were robbed. We were cheated out of a victory; we were tricked or outsmarted. For example, That ball was inside the lines-we wuz robbed! This expression, with its attempt to render nonstandard speech, has been attributed to fight manager Joe Jacobs (1896-1940), who uttered it on June 21, 1932, after his client, Max Schmeling, had clearly out-boxed Jack Sharkey, only to have the heavy-weight title awarded to Sharkey. It is still used, most often in a sports context.

To incur a debt in order to pay off another debt.

To rob in an unusually deceitful or thorough way: robbed the old couple blind while employed as a companion.

To have a romantic or sexual relationship with someone significantly younger than oneself.

Use funds from one source to repay a debt. If you use one credit card to pay off another, even if you're benefiting by buying time, you're robbing Peter to pay Paul. How the phrase came to be associated with what would seem to be the two apostles is a mystery, since neither was associated with precarious financial planning.