smash-and-grab
adjective
chiefly British
—used to describe a robbery that is done by breaking a window of a car, store, etc., and stealing whatever can be taken quickly
a smash-and-grab robbery/thief
Examples of smash-and-grab in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Two more people were arrested after allegedly stealing about $1 million in gold jewelry in the January smash-and-grab robbery of a Yuba City jewelry store, police said.
—
Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Anaheim police arrested a teen connected to a group of smash-and-grab robbers who purposefully rammed an SUV into an Anaheim jewelry store before crashing their getaway cars during a pursuit last month.
—Matthew Rodriguez, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
The getaway cars crashed a short time later Police arrested eight suspects following a smash-and-grab burglary at a California jewelry store that was captured on security footage.
—Nicole Acosta, PEOPLE, 27 Jan. 2026
The same Kevin Jewelers location was previously targeted in smash-and-grab robberies in April and September of 2022, police said.
—Sydney Barragan, Oc Register, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for smash-and-grab
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Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Anaheim police arrested a teen connected to a group of smash-and-grab robbers who purposefully rammed an SUV into an Anaheim jewelry store before crashing their getaway cars during a pursuit last month.
—Matthew Rodriguez, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
The getaway cars crashed a short time later Police arrested eight suspects following a smash-and-grab burglary at a California jewelry store that was captured on security footage.
—Nicole Acosta, PEOPLE, 27 Jan. 2026
The same Kevin Jewelers location was previously targeted in smash-and-grab robberies in April and September of 2022, police said.
—Sydney Barragan, Oc Register, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for smash-and-grab
Cite this Entry
“Smash-and-grab.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smash-and-grab. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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