Word.ws English Dictionary

take the law into one's hands

take the law into one's hands is the alternative form of take the law into one's own hands.

Meaning of take the law into one's own hands

Verb

take the law into one's own hands (third-person singular simple present takes the law into one's own hands, present participle taking the law into one's own hands, simple past took the law into one's own hands, past participle taken the law into one's own hands)

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To punish someone according to one's own idea of justice, without consideration for the role of law enforcement authorities.
    • After his son's killer was let off without a conviction, the man decided to take the law into his own hands.

Forms of take the law into one's hands

third-person singular presenttakes the law into one's hands
present participletaking the law into one's hands
pasttook the law into one's hands
past participletaken the law into one's hands

Questions about take the law into one's hands

What is take the law into one's hands the alternative form of?
Take the law into one's hands is the alternative form of take the law into one's own hands.

Words near take the law into one's hands in the dictionary

  1. take the helm
  2. take the hint
  3. take the initiative
  4. take the knee
  5. take the l
  6. take the law into one's hands
  7. take the law into one's own hands
  8. take the lead
  9. take the liberty
  10. take the long view
  11. take the mask off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take the law into one's hands (page history and authors); take the law into one's own hands (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.

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