robber
n. countablen. someone who steals money or property from a person or place, often using threats or force.
n. a person who commits the crime of theft by using violence, intimidation, or the threat of force.
The robber ran away with a bag of money.
The bank robber wore a mask to hide his face from the security cameras during the heist.
Witnesses described the robber as a tall man in a dark hoodie who fled the scene in a stolen vehicle immediately after the alarm sounded.
Inherited from Middle English robbour, robbere, either directly taken from or from a calque of Old French robeor. Equivalent to rob + -er. Compare reaver (“robber, plunderer”), a native English word derived from Proto-Germanic *raubārijaz that is ultimately of more or less the same composition as robber. And compare rover (“a pirate”), another word of the same composition.
Often used specifically for crimes involving a direct confrontation with a victim, unlike 'burglar' or 'thief'.
The robber stole my houseThe robber robbed my houseYou rob a person or a place, but you steal an object. One robs a bank but steals the money inside it.
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cradle robber
A person who marries or becomes romantically involved with someone who is much younger, or who employs or otherwise engages a young person for a purpose inappropriate for his or her age.
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robber baron
Especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a business tycoon who had great wealth and influence but whose methods were morally questionable and often unethical.