Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pound of flesh

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.95 in modern English

Syllables: pound of flesh
IPA

24

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

1

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Something which is owed and which will be hurtful or difficult to provide; a debt owed to someone who is merciless and demanding.

Example Sentences

"You must be under the impression that I'm one of these damned New England sharks that get their pound of flesh off the widow and orphan."
"When I wake up in my makeup / It's too early for that dress / Wilted and faded somewhere in Hollywood / I'm glad I came here with your pound of flesh"
"[…] [Trinamool] Congress [Party] will need to strike deals with other regional allies, such as Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. Their pound of flesh will be anti-reform, too."

Etymology

From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which Antonio literally owes a pound of his flesh to the moneylender Shylock.

Inflected Forms

pounds of flesh (plural)

Questions

What does pound of flesh mean?: Something which is owed and which will be hurtful or difficult to provide; a debt owed to someone who is merciless and demanding.
Where does pound of flesh come from?: From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which Antonio literally owes a pound of his flesh to the moneylender Shylock.

How to pronounce pound of flesh

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