robber

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n.

One who robs; in law, one who feloniously takes goods or money from the person of another by violence or by putting him in fear.

Some roving robber calling to his fellows.
Milton.

Syn. -- Thief; depredator; despoiler; plunderer; pillager; rifler; brigang; freebooter; pirate. See Thief.

Robber crab. (Zoöl.) (a) A purse crab. (b) Any hermit crab. -- Robber fly. (Zoöl.) Same as Hornet fly, under Hornet. -- Robber gull (Zoöl.), a jager gull.


Local oral history often preserved reasonably accurate memories of the crimes of robbers, smugglers, and highwaymen for several generations, especially if the inns they frequented and the gallows and gibbets where they died were still standing. Yet there was always a tendency for tales to grow in the telling. Sometimes the rogue is recalled as a hero for his physical strength, sometimes for his clever tricks to outwit the law: stolen sheep hidden in a cider barrel, horses shod backwards, smuggled goods carried in coffins, etc. The opposite tendency was to see the robber as a villain who met an appropriate fate, as in the story of the Hangman's Stone.

There are several tales from Victorian times, presented as true, in which a robber gains entry to a house in disguise, or hidden in a box or bundle left there by an accomplice, or by using a Hand of Glory; a young servant-girl, alone in the house, contrives to wound him, put him to flight, or even kill him by pouring boiling fat down his throat as he sleeps, or applying a red-hot poker (Briggs, 1970-1: A. i. 307; B. i. 171-2, 183-4; Charles Dickens, ‘The Holly Tree’ (1855)).

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A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

A candid man of affairs.

It is related of Voltaire that one night he and some traveling companion lodged at a wayside inn. The surroundings were suggestive, and after supper they agreed to tell robber stories in turn. "Once there was a Farmer-General of the Revenues." Saying nothing more, he was encouraged to continue. "That," he said, "is the story."



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Dansk (Danish)
n. - røver

idioms:

  • robber baron    røverridder, hensynsløs forretningsmand

Nederlands (Dutch)
rover, overvaller

Français (French)
n. - voleur, brigand

idioms:

  • robber baron    (Hist) baron pillard, (fig) requin de l'industrie

Deutsch (German)
n. - Räuber

idioms:

  • robber baron    Räuberbaron

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ληστής, άρπαγας, κλέφτης

idioms:

  • robber baron    φεουδάρχης λήσταρχος, εκμεταλλευτής πλουτοκράτορας

Italiano (Italian)
rapinatore, predone

idioms:

  • robber baron    plutocrate senza scrupoli

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ladrão (m)

idioms:

  • robber baron    magnata americano desonesto que viveu no séc.19

Русский (Russian)
грабитель

idioms:

  • robber baron    акула капитализма, феодал-разбойник

Español (Spanish)
n. - ladrón, asaltante, atracador

idioms:

  • robber baron    capitalista enriquecido por la explotación, señor feudal que vivía del robo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - rånare, rövare

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
强盗, 盗贼

idioms:

  • robber baron    强盗式贵族, 强盗式资本家

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 強盜, 盜賊

idioms:

  • robber baron    強盜式貴族, 強盜式資本家

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 강도 , 도둑, 약탈자

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 強盗

idioms:

  • robber baron    追いはぎ貴族, 新興成金, 悪徳資本家

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سارق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮גזלן, שודד‬


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