Useful English Word or Phrase to Boost Your English: Smash and Grab

What does it mean?

A smash and grab is a type of robbery where thieves smash a shop window or door and grab expensive items quickly before escaping. It's fast, violent, and destructive.

Is it positive or negative?

It is strongly negative because it describes a criminal act involving violence and theft.

When do you use it?

Use it when discussing or reporting quick, aggressive robberies targeting shops with valuable items like jewellery, watches, or electronics.

Examples

Example 1: There was a smash and grab at the jewellery shop last night.

Example 2: Police are increasing patrols after a series of smash and grab robberies.

Question for you

Have you ever seen a news story about a smash and grabWhat happened?

Are you looking for English speaking practice online?

Are you looking for English speaking practice online? Don't let your learning be a quick smash and grab! If you want deep, lasting fluency, you've found the right website. I offer online English lessons using Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom for my high-quality classes. My English speaking lessons are perfect if you are not getting enough speaking practice and want to improve your spoken fluency, accuracy, and learn nice, natural vocabulary and expressions directly from a British native speaker. If you want to study English with a British native speaker online, you can find out more about lessons here. For another useful word, see recipe for disaster.