Meanings
present singular third person robs Peter to pay Paul · participle present robbing Peter to pay Paul · participle past robbed Peter to pay Paul · past robbed Peter to pay Paul · alternative borrow from Peter to pay Paul
- idiomaticTo use resources that legitimately belong to or are needed by one party in order to satisfy a legitimate need of another party, especially within the same organization or group; to solve a problem in a way that makes another problem worse, producing no net gain.
1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod, Chapter VIII. "The Highland Light", page 140. Perhaps what the Ocean takes from one part of the Cape it gives to another,—robs Peter to pay Paul.
3 more examples
[I]t would be robbing Peter to pay Paul, for the government to pay a stamp-duty to itself.
1838, Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, volume 17, number 98, London, page 224OMB decided that a large part of the money would come from other health programs for poor women and children. That penny-pinching tactic sparked an outcry. […] Senator Christopher Bond of Missouri denounced the plan as pitting "one city's babies against another city's babies." Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, who chairs the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality, said it amounted to "robbing Peter to pay Paul."
1991 April 8, Priscilla Painton et al., “Mere Millions For Kids”, in Time, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2013[…] and so levelling up is not a jam-spreading operation, it’s not robbing Peter to pay Paul, it[']s not zero sum it’s win win for the whole United Kingdom and so here is the plan for levelling up.
2021 July 15, Boris Johnson, The Prime Minister's Levelling Up speech
Origin
Unknown. Sometimes claimed to refer to Church taxes paid to Westminster Abbey (originally called Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster) that were sent to repair St. Paul's Cathedral in the mid 1500s, though records exist of the phrase since about 1450.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 拆東牆，補西牆 /拆东墙, 补西墙
- 拆東牆，補西牆 /拆东墙to use resources producing no net gain
- 补西墙 (chāi dōngqiáng bǔ xīqiáng)to use resources producing no net gain
Czech vytkloukat klín klínem
- vytkloukat klín klínemto use resources producing no net gain
Danish give med den ene hånd og tage med den anden, tage fra den ene og give til den anden
- give med den ene hånd og tage med den andento use resources producing no net gain
- tage fra den ene og give til den andento use resources producing no net gain
Dutch vestzak-broekzakoperatie
- vestzak-broekzakoperatieto use resources producing no net gain
Finnish siirtää rahaa taskusta toiseen
- siirtää rahaa taskusta toiseento use resources producing no net gain
French déshabiller Pierre pour habiller Paul
- déshabiller Pierre pour habiller Paulto use resources producing no net gain
Polish zabrać jednemu, żeby dać drugiemu
- zabrać jednemu, żeby dać drugiemuto use resources producing no net gain
Portuguese despir um santo para vestir outro
- despir um santo para vestir outroto use resources producing no net gain
Swedish ge med den ena handen och ta med den andra
- ge med den ena handen och ta med den andrato use resources producing no net gain
Urdu احمد کی پگڑی محمود کے سر پر
- احمد کی پگڑی محمود کے سر پر (ahmad kī pagṛī mahmūd ke sir par)to use resources producing no net gain
Cite this entry
rob Peter to pay Paul. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rob%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul
“rob Peter to pay Paul.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rob%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rob Peter to pay Paul,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rob%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul.
Source: rob Peter to pay Paul on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.