king's ransom

From the exceptionally high ransom demanded for the return of a kidnapped or captured king.

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1. Template:idiomatic A very large sum of money.
   • 1967 March 10, Archeology: An Ill-Starred Treasure Comes into Its Own (pictorial), LIFE, page 101:

     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.

   • 1986 March 24, Bernice Kanner, The Real James Bond: Jim Lebenthal’s Tax-Bill Crusade, New York, page 46:

     “ […] This commercial message is sponsored by Lebenthal in the heartfelt belief that we’re not the only ones who are going to miss the bonds when they’re gone and it costs a king’s ransom to turn on the lights, boil water, or haul the garbage.”

   • 2005, Michael R. Matthews, Colin F. Gauld, Arthur Stinner, The Pendulum: Its Place in Science, Culture and Pedagogy, Michael R. Matthews, Colin F. Gauld, Arthur Stinner (editors), The Pendulum: Scientific, Historical, Philosophical and Educational Perspectives, page 7:

     Solving longitude was one of the major preoccupations of European nations from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. King’s ransoms were offered for its solution.

   • 2010, Jane Feather, Rushed to the Altar, Pocket Books (2010), ISBN 9781439145241, page 386:

     Except that Clarissa Astley would not have been decked out in a king's ransom of diamonds.

• fortune