highway robbery



highway robbery

outrageous overpricing; a bill that is much higher than normally acceptable but must be paid. (As if one had been accosted and robbed on the open road or in broad daylight.) Four thousand dollars! That's highway robbery for one piece of furniture! I won't pay it! It's highway robbery!
See also: highway, robbery

highway robbery

The exaction of an exorbitantly high price or fee. For example, You paid ten dollars for that meat? That's highway robbery. This term, used figuratively since the late 1800s, alludes to literal robbery of travelers on or near a public road.
See also: highway, robbery

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Ruthi-Old Church Slavic
SiobhÁNshi-VAWNIrish
Shannon['ʃænən]
Neves-Portuguese
Fulbert-French, Ancient Germanic
Soheila-Persian