Word.ws English Dictionary

taking the law into one's own hands

taking the law into one's own hands is the present participle and gerund 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.

Questions about taking the law into one's own hands

What is taking the law into one's own hands the present participle and gerund of?
Taking the law into one's own hands is the present participle and gerund of take the law into one's own hands.

Words near taking the law into one's own hands in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking the law into one's own 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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “taking the law into one's own hands.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taking_the_law_into_one%27s_own_hands. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.