pound of flesh
noun phrase
: a payment or penalty exacted to fulfill a deal or punishment
loan sharks taking their pound of flesh
Examples of pound of flesh in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The result has been an unmitigated disaster for animals: more animals in more places are confined in restrictive conditions utterly unlike their natural environments and are pushed beyond their physiological limits to produce ever-greater numbers of eggs, gallons of milk, and pounds of flesh.
—
Miyun Park, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2012
Viewers will have their pound of flesh, whether reality stars are willing or not.
—Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2024
So your 20-pound watermelon with 14 pounds of flesh will leave you with 21 cups of fresh fruit to use.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 July 2024
Alcohol never walks away from a good time without taking its pound of flesh.
—Allison Robicelli, Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2024
To get its pound of flesh, Elliot didn’t shy away from theatrics, either, going so far as to seize a naval training vessel in Ghana.
—Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 9 June 2023
Getting the work done right, however, can extract a pound of flesh, judging from the No. 2 consumer complaint from last year: home repairs and renovations.
—Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 24 May 2023
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Miyun Park, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2012
Viewers will have their pound of flesh, whether reality stars are willing or not.
—Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2024
So your 20-pound watermelon with 14 pounds of flesh will leave you with 21 cups of fresh fruit to use.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 July 2024
Alcohol never walks away from a good time without taking its pound of flesh.
—Allison Robicelli, Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2024
To get its pound of flesh, Elliot didn’t shy away from theatrics, either, going so far as to seize a naval training vessel in Ghana.
—Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 9 June 2023
Getting the work done right, however, can extract a pound of flesh, judging from the No. 2 consumer complaint from last year: home repairs and renovations.
—Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 24 May 2023
Dictionary Entries Near pound of flesh
Cite this Entry
“Pound of flesh.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pound%20of%20flesh. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share