rob

The act of being romantically involved with a much younger person. Primarily heard in UK. He's known for his cradle-snatching—he's currently dating a woman 25 years younger than him.

To steal everything someone owns, especially through deceitful or fraudulent means. Sometimes used to insinuate that someone is charging too much money for something. The CEO was sent to prison for robbing his clients blind through a complex Ponzi scheme. Another $100 in fees? These guys are robbing us blind!

To borrow or take money from one person or source to fund or repay the debt of another. Mr. Hardy's law firm has fallen into arrears of late, and he's been robbing Peter to pay Paul just to keep the business afloat. Never use a credit card to pay a debt—that's just robbing Peter to pay Paul!

To date someone who is much younger than oneself. Are you sure it doesn't bother you how much older I am? I feel like people are judging me for robbing the cradle.

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.

The victory, success, or optimal outcome we deserved was stolen or cheated from us! A nonstandard version of "we were robbed," often used ironically or humorously, sometimes stylized as "we wuz robbed." We would have won the game if they hadn't gotten that field goal at the very last second—we was robbed, I tell ya! People will no doubt flock to social media to scream that "we wuz robbed" after the outcome of the match.

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.

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.

Cradle-snatching is the practice of having a sexual relationship with a much younger partner. The woman is even older than his mother. It's cradle snatching! There'll always be those who accuse you of robbing the cradle. Note: You can describe someone who does this in British English as a cradle snatcher or, in American English, as a cradle robber. The ageing actress is a cradle snatcher, says her toyboy's family. Women who make off with men 15 to 30 years younger are viewed as neurotic cradle robbers. Note: These expressions are usually used in a disapproving way.

If someone is robbing Peter to pay Paul, they are using money that is meant for one thing to pay for something else. I have not starved yet but I am very conscious of failing to pay back debts, of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

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.

To take funds from one source in order to pay another; to shift a debt. According to legend, the abbey church of St. Peter’s, in Westminster, was made into a cathedral in 1540, but ten years later it was joined to the diocese of London and many of its estates were appropriated to pay for the repairs of St. Paul’s Cathedral; hence St. Peter was “robbed” for the sake of St. Paul. Appealing as this source for the cliché may be, the expression actually was first used by John Wycliffe about 1340, when he wrote, “How should God approve that you rob Peter and give this robbery to Paul in the name of Christ?” In the mid-1950s George J. Hecht, founder and publisher of Parents Magazine, went to Washington to lobby—in the morning for lower postal rates for magazine publishers, and in the afternoon for larger appropriations to the Children’s Bureau, whereupon he was accused of trying to rob both Peter and Paul.

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.