Rob Someone Blind

Also: Steal someone blind

Meaning of Idiom ‘Rob Someone Blind’

1. To steal freely from someone without immediate detection. ¹

2. To greatly overcharge someone for a service or item; to cheat someone in a transaction. ²

3. To thoroughly and very deceitfully cheat someone financially, especially as by some kind of deception or extortion. ³,⁴

Examples Of Use

“Robert doesn’t have much of a business sense and couldn’t figure out why his hardware store wasn’t doing well. It turned out his accountant had been robbing him blind.”

“That mechanic tried to rob me blind. He told me I needed a whole new engine! I found out later that all I needed was a tune-up.”

“Ms. Hill was heartbroken when she found out her trusted employees had been stealing her blind.”

Origin

Used since the mid-1900’s.

The allusion here is unclear. Possibly, it relates to robbing a blind beggar by emptying his collection cup. It may also allude to dishonestly taking everything from someone, including their sight. ⁵

More Idioms Starting with R

• Run a Fever
• Rub Someone the Wrong Way
• Raw Deal, a
• Running On Fumes
• Run a Bath

More Blind Idioms

• Turn a Blind Eye
• Blind Leading the Blind

More Rob Idioms

• Rob the Cradle
• Rob Peter to Pay Paul

More Steal Idioms

• Steal Someone’s Thunder
• Rip Off
• Five-finger Discount
• Ill-gotten Gains
• Caught with Your Hand In The Cookie Jar

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References

1. Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
2. Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
3. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
4. Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.
5. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.