smash-and-grab
adjective
chiefly British
—used to describe a robbery that is done by breaking a window of a car, store, etc., and stealing whatever can be taken quickly
a smash-and-grab robbery/thief
Examples of smash-and-grab in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
At least a dozen cars were broken into at multiple hotels overnight in a string of smash-and-grab burglaries, according to the Roseville Police Department.
—
Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Police arrested four suspects in a smash-and-grab robbery at San Jose's Westfield Valley Fair Mall in January, with two of the suspects also linked to a separate armed robbery in San Jose days earlier.
—Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026
On Monday, April 20, Elite Sports Cards in Chicago was broken into in a smash-and-grab heist resulting in the loss of $100,000 of merchandise, Ronnie Holloway, the owner of the sports card shop told ABC Chicago station WLS-TV.
—ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026
Around that same time, investigators were trying to unravel a possibly unrelated local smash-and-grab theft ring targeting Lego toys.
—Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for smash-and-grab
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Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Police arrested four suspects in a smash-and-grab robbery at San Jose's Westfield Valley Fair Mall in January, with two of the suspects also linked to a separate armed robbery in San Jose days earlier.
—Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026
On Monday, April 20, Elite Sports Cards in Chicago was broken into in a smash-and-grab heist resulting in the loss of $100,000 of merchandise, Ronnie Holloway, the owner of the sports card shop told ABC Chicago station WLS-TV.
—ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026
Around that same time, investigators were trying to unravel a possibly unrelated local smash-and-grab theft ring targeting Lego toys.
—Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for smash-and-grab
Cite this Entry
“Smash-and-grab.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smash-and-grab. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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