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Literary analysis for the phrase A Pound of Flesh from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice with meaning, origin, usage explained as well as the source text.
The meaning of POUND OF FLESH is a payment or penalty exacted to fulfill a deal or punishment. How to use pound of flesh in a sentence.
Someone demanding their pound of flesh is saying that they are determined to get what is theirs by right, no matter how it may affect anyone else and regardless of the consequences.
The expression a pound of flesh describes a ruthless or unreasonable demand often made at great personal cost or suffering to the person expected to fulfill it. In TV, books and movies, you’ll often see the phrase used by a villain when he’s coming to collect what is owed to them by the hero when he’s down to nothing.
POUND OF FLESH definition: 1. something that you have the right to receive but is unreasonable to demand from someone 2…. Learn more.
If you say that someone demands their pound of flesh, you mean that they insist on getting something they are entitled to, even though it may cause distress to the person it is demanded from.
In modern times, the phrase “pound of flesh” is often used metaphorically to describe situations where someone demands something that they are not entitled to or when they seek revenge at any cost. The idiom can also be used in business settings when discussing contracts or negotiations.
pound of flesh. A debt or punishment, especially a cruel or unreasonable one, that is harshly insisted upon. An allusion to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which the moneylender Shylock demands he be paid the pound of flesh promised as collateral for a loan.
Pound of flesh definition: something that is one's legal right but is an unreasonable demand (esp in the phrase to have one's pound of flesh). See examples of POUND OF FLESH used in a sentence.
POUND OF FLESH meaning: 1. something that you have the right to receive but is unreasonable to demand from someone 2…. Learn more.
