king's ransom
king's ransom noun: a very large sum of money.
Noun
king's ransom (plural king's ransoms or kings' ransoms)
- A very large sum of money.
- "But to yonder pavilion . . . the moon is glimmering on the gilded ball which crowns its roof, and which is worth a king's ransom."1825, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 12, in The Talisman
- These gold, silver and pewter pieces are part of a king’s ransom of Spanish treasure salvaged from the sea off Florida where they had lain for 250 years.1967 March 10, Archeology: An Ill-Starred Treasure Comes into Its Own (pictorial), LIFE, page 101
- Synonyms:
- an arm and a leg, fortune, pretty penny
Synonyms of king's ransom
Forms of king's ransom
| plural | king's ransoms |
|---|---|
| plural | kings' ransoms |
Origin of king's ransom
From the exceptionally high ransom demanded for the return of a kidnapped or captured king.
Questions about king's ransom
- What does king's ransom mean?
- King's ransom means a very large sum of money.
- What part of speech is king's ransom?
- King's ransom is a noun.
- What is the plural of king's ransom?
- The plural of king's ransom is king's ransoms.
Words near king's ransom in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: king's ransom (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-king's ransom.ogg.
Cite this entry: “king's ransom.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/king%27s_ransom. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.