From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrob Peter to pay Paulrob Peter to pay PaulTAKE something FROM somebodyGIVEto take money away from someone or something that needs it in order to pay someone else or use it for something else Taking money out of the hospital’s budget for this is simply robbing Peter to pay Paul. → rob
Examples from the Corpus
rob Peter to pay Paul• For example, one contributor argued that mainstream funding for Whiterock College was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. 