price on one's head

price on one's head idiom
A reward for capturing or killing someone, usually someone guilty of a crime. For example, He was a serial killer, and they put a price on his head. The head in this term presumably alludes to the older punishment of beheading. [Mid-1700s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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