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Definition of highway robbery
1 : robbery committed on or near a public highway usually against travelers
2 : excessive profit or advantage derived from a business transaction
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Examples of highway robbery in a Sentence
Charging that much to see a movie is highway robbery!
what some rock superstars charge for concert tickets is simply highway robbery
Recent Examples on the Web But court records also describe its use to punish crimes like murder, rape, and highway robbery.
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Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Medieval skeleton puts a face on accounts of torture and violence," 1 Oct. 2019 For anyone on a budget (or for those of us that believe paying more than $10 for a meal is highway robbery), there are plenty of places around town to eat a delicious, filling food.
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Houston Chronicle, "Great places to eat in Houston for less than $10," 1 Aug. 2019 The council also said that highway robberies of freight transport had doubled in the first quarter of 2018.
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Maria Verza, The Seattle Times, "Canadian mine latest business affected by Mexico violence," 28 May 2018 In a move that many saw as highway robbery at the time, the Pacers sent Paul George to Oklahoma City for Victor Oladipo and Domantis Sabonis.
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Joseph Spears, Indianapolis Star, "Kevin Pritchard twitter account likes Oklahoma City Police Department's Paul George tweet," 12 Dec. 2017 In the bad old days, Californians could count on simply deducting this highway robbery from their federal taxable income, masking the state’s shenanigans and blunting the financial pain.
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Heather Wilhelm, National Review, "‘Evil’ Tax Cuts? Nope, It’s Blue-State Panic," 8 Dec. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'highway robbery.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for highway robbery
The first known use of highway robbery was in 1611
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