king's ransom

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king's ransom

A very large sum of money. I've always wanted to vacation in Hawaii, but the plane tickets cost a king's ransom.

See also: ransom

*king's ransom

Fig. a great deal of money. (To pay an amount as large as one might have to pay to get back a king held for ransom. *Typically: cost ~; pay ~; spend~.) I would like to buy a nice watch, but I don't want to pay a king's ransom for it. It's a lovely house. I bet it cost a king's ransom.

See also: ransom

king's ransom

A huge sum of money, as in That handmade rug must have cost a king's ransom. This metaphoric expression originally referred to the sum required to release a king from captivity. [Late 1400s]

See also: ransom

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

a king's ransom

mainly BRITISH

A king's ransom is an extremely large sum of money. She was paid a king's ransom for a five-minute appearance in the film. With so few skilled electricians available, these people can charge a king's ransom for their services.

See also: ransom

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

a king's ransom

a huge amount of money; a fortune.

In feudal times prisoners of war were freed for sums in keeping with their rank, so a king, as the highest-ranking individual, commanded the greatest ransom.

See also: ransom

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

a ˌking’s ˈransom

(literary) a very large amount of money: We don’t exactly get paid a king’s ransom in this job.In the past, if a king was captured in a war, his country would pay a ransom for his release.

See also: ransom

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

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Several years ago whe the authority spent a king's ransom on this, I thought it was a lost oportunity.

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The penalty for driving without a licence, insurance and frequently MoT and tax, is a drop in the ocean compared to the king's ransom they have to pay to stay 'legit'.

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The robbers kidnapped Colin Dixon, the manager of the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, and his wife and child, before getting away with what prosecutors described as a "king's ransom".

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9am A so-called friend phones to say my ticket's been sold for a king's ransom and that the telly coverage should prove a suitable substitute.