robbingn.
/ˈrɒbɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrɑbɪŋ/ 1.
a. An instance of robbery; an act of theft. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > [noun] > act or instance of
robbinga1300
ravina1325
robberya1325
burgh-brechea1387
reif1533
hoist1714
jump1777
speak1811
trick1865
clean-up1928
heist1930
knock-off1969
hit1970
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 592 Ilc robbinge do we of hac.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 39 (MED) Zuyche reuen, prouost, bedeles..makeþ þe greate robbynges and þe wronges ope þe poure.
a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) l. 938 (MED) Hast þou stolen any þynge, Or ben at any robbynge?
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 191 (MED) They be not aferde of no tresons, inprysonynges, nor robbynges, nor be to gretly envied.
a1500 (a1470) Brut (BL Add. 10099) 518 (MED) At which robbyng diuerse men of London of þer neghburse wer at it.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccccv Spoylynges and robbinges of townes.
1657 Divine Lover 300 The tediousnesse of the way, beatinges, robbings, and the like are but necessarie Mortifications.
1693 tr. J. Le Clerc Mem. Count Teckely ii. 103 The War was more like a tumultuous Robbing than a War manag'd with prudence.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. iii. 160 Murders, Burnings, and Robbings.
1765 London Mag. Nov. 565/1 Taking what is set a part for the clergy's subsistence..is a robbing of God.
1830 Reg. Pennsylvania 1 May 276/2 Actual violence is not the only means by which a robbing may be committed.
1878 Morning Light 23 Mar. 118/1 These practices..involve a robbing, not only of employers, but also of the general public.
1911 Science Dec. 739/2 We are coming to realize that good farming is no longer a robbing, but a recompensing of the soil.
1960 S. Marinatos Crete & Mycenae 110 The many later robbings have left only scraps of the treasures which were once there.
2004 Liverpool Echo (Nexis) 6 Oct. 14 Robbings, beatings and killings now seem the norm.
b. Robbery, stealing. In early use also: †piracy (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > [noun]
reiflockOE
reiflOE
robberya1200
rapea1325
reaveryc1325
robbing1340
ravinc1384
stouthreif1493
ravenya1500
bribery1523
reft1552
pillardise1598
involationa1680
mail robbery1797
hustling1823
push1874
blag1885
rolling1895
strong-arming1948
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 192 (MED) Elmesse þet is y-do of þyefþe..of robbinge..hit ne likeþ noþing god.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxxiii. 1 Whan thou shalt han ful endid robbing [L. deprædationem], thou shalt be robbid.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiv. 301 Ȝe, þorw þe pas of altoun Pouerte myȝte passe with-oute peril of robbynge.
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) i. l. 6817 (MED) Off such robbyng be sclaundre & be diffame This woord Pirat off Pirrus took the name.
1465 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 330 The chyff maysters of robbyng was the baylly of Ey, the baylly of Stradbroke, Thomas Slyford.
a1500 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Rawl.) (1896) 27 (MED) Al the contreis about deuelyn, wyth Robynge and brennynge..weryn al-meste broght to noght.
1591 F. Sparry tr. C. de Cattan Geomancie 119 It is very ill in all demandes, but such as concerne..robbing, rifling, spoiling.
1627 R. Sanderson Ten Serm. 434 Such as liue by Stealing, and Robbing, and Piracy, and Persecuting, and Witch-craft.
1665 S. Pepys Diary 21 Sept. (1972) VI. 235 I rode in some fear of robbing.
1750 H. Walpole Let. 18 Oct. (1846) II. 359 Robbing is the only thing that goes on with any vivacity.
1781 R. E. Raspe tr. G. E. Lessing Nathan the Wise ii. ix. 40 Courting loans is begging, and lending out for premium and for interest is robbing.
1838 Times 13 Feb. 2/6 He confessed that he had been induced to join three men in a robbing expedition.
1865 E. R. Chudleigh Diary 26 Mar. (1950) 170 As sticking up and robbing is quite the thing, I shall carry a loaded revolver.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. vi. 157 None of our class of girls do any robbing. There's nothing in it. You get caught.
1952 J. Lait & L. Mortimer U.S.A. Confidential ii. xxv. 296 Freebooters were welcomed even as far back as the days when Wall Street, not the Mafia, did the robbing.
1994 P. Baker Blood Posse x. 114 A night of violence, robbing, raping, and murdering.
c. Bee-keeping. The taking of honey by honeybees from a hive that is not their own.
ΚΠ
1657 S. Purchas Theatre Flying-insects 338 Bees though..they have sufficiently stored and replenished their hives..; yet will they not give over working; nay some, not leave robbing and that from the weaker and wanting hives.
1789 J. Bonner Bee-master's Compan. xv. 119 I believe the poorest are keenest of robbing: but in such weather as was mentioned all hives go a robbing whether rich or poor.
1886 T. W. Cowan Brit. Bee-keeper's Guide Bk. (ed. 8) xxxii. 142 When honey is scarce in the fields any exposure of sweets so that bees can get a taste will induce robbing.
1923 Pop. Mech. June 960/2 The porch also acts as a protection against robbing.
1998 P. Schmid-Hempel Parasites Social Insects vi. 216 In ants, raiding behavior is the equivalent of robbing in bees.
2. In plural. The proceeds of robbery; plunder, booty. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun] > spoil or plunder
reifOE
fang1016
fengc1175
purchasec1325
predec1330
robberyc1330
robbingsc1330
spoila1340
spoila1382
chevisance1393
waitha1400
fee14..
pilferc1400
pelfa1425
spreathc1425
butinc1450
emprisec1450
gain1473
despoil1474
pelfry?a1475
pilfery1489
spulyie1507
cheat1566
bootinga1572
booty1574
escheat1587
boot1598
exuvial1632
bootyn1635
polling1675
expilation1715
prog1727
swag1794
filch1798
spreaghery1814
stake1819
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 4730 (MED) Þis four heþen kinges Went, to loken þis robbeinges.
1893 Macmillan's Mag. Jan. 234/1 Take the robbings of dead men's bodies? Take the price of dead men's flesh?
1903 M. I. Swift Monarch Billionaire xx. 242 Suppose law and force give men a moral right to hold their robbings.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
robbingadj.
/ˈrɒbɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrɑbɪŋ/ That robs; thieving, predatory.Recorded earliest in church-robbing adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > [adjective]
robbing1549
1549 J. Ponet tr. B. Ochino Tragoedie Unjuste Usurped Primacie sig. D.iv The name of a vniuersall Byshop was a folishe, wicked, proude, and a churche robbing name.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. ii. viii. f. 60v One [theft] standeth in Uiolence, when the goodes of an other are by..robbing licenciousnesse bereued.
1574 J. Studley tr. J. Bale Pageant of Popes f. 107 Who parteth that which God hath ioynde as wyfe from man, To call these robbing theeues full well auouch we can.
1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse 89 Like to roving Dunkirkes, or robbing pyrats.
1657 S. Purchas Theatre Flying-insects 334 The robbing Bee and the Waspe..will without strife or difference concurre together to rob a hive of Bees.
1723 R. Blackmore Alfred xii. 426 They violate the Laws Of Heav'n and Earth, while from their naked Home Spoilers and robbing Vagabonds they roam.
1798 Parl. Reg. 1797–1802 V. 598 The robbing and murdering fraternity of Revolutionists.
1832 U.S. Weekly Telegraph 2 July 507/1 Man is naturally a robbing animal.
1886 Lett. Donegal 54 There need then have been no fear that the robbing scoundrels..would have escaped punishment.
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid xxiv. 241 Give me the damn groin, you robbing bleeder.
1975 B. Martin tr. I. Zinberg Old Yiddish Lit. iii. 58 The heroic Widuwilt..pursues the robbing knight, and promptly overcomes him in a duel.
2003 D. Mahoney Justice (2004) v. 67 He's just some kind of greedy, robbing bastard who spreads peanuts around to make himself look good.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1300adj.1549