highway robbery
noun
1
: robbery committed on or near a public highway usually against travelers
2
: excessive profit or advantage derived from a business transaction
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
Hospitals have gotten away with this sort of highway robbery for years, thanks to a combination of consolidation and misleading arguments.
—
Craig M. Wax, Boston Herald, 13 June 2025
To me, one meant highway robbery and the other meant equal pain, equal pleasure.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2025
The Nets‘ famous offseason trade with the Knicks — centered around Mikal Bridges — looks more like highway robbery each day.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025
Jerry showed no sign of clocking their absence, though Bill wasn’t watching too closely—an act of moral highway robbery, maybe, but what was depredation if not an escape from the mundane?
—Hazlitt, 9 Dec. 2024
Roberto Poli, Boynton Beach Highway robbery What has come out in the University of Florida student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, regarding the spending of former UF president Ben Sasse, looks like highway robbery.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2024
At the airport sushi counter, where prices are no more offensive than the highway robbery over rubbery personal pizzas and gigantic pretzels, a confident—and meager—crowd silently communes over their unassuming California rolls.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 June 2024
The Celtics’ acquisition of Porzingis was highway robbery.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 9 June 2024
Today that February 2023 trade screams highway robbery, but hindsight is always the best teacher.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 1 June 2024
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Craig M. Wax, Boston Herald, 13 June 2025
To me, one meant highway robbery and the other meant equal pain, equal pleasure.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2025
The Nets‘ famous offseason trade with the Knicks — centered around Mikal Bridges — looks more like highway robbery each day.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025
Jerry showed no sign of clocking their absence, though Bill wasn’t watching too closely—an act of moral highway robbery, maybe, but what was depredation if not an escape from the mundane?
—Hazlitt, 9 Dec. 2024
Roberto Poli, Boynton Beach Highway robbery What has come out in the University of Florida student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, regarding the spending of former UF president Ben Sasse, looks like highway robbery.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2024
At the airport sushi counter, where prices are no more offensive than the highway robbery over rubbery personal pizzas and gigantic pretzels, a confident—and meager—crowd silently communes over their unassuming California rolls.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 June 2024
The Celtics’ acquisition of Porzingis was highway robbery.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 9 June 2024
Today that February 2023 trade screams highway robbery, but hindsight is always the best teacher.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 1 June 2024
Cite this Entry
“Highway robbery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highway%20robbery. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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