pound of flesh

noun

1. something that is one's legal right but is an unreasonable demand (esp in the phrase to have one's pound of flesh )

pound of flesh

¹

1. A phrase from the play The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare . The moneylender Shylock demands the flesh of the “merchant of Venice,” Antonio, under a provision in their contract . Shylock never gets the pound of flesh, however, because the character Portia discovers a point of law that overrides the contract: Shylock is forbidden to shed any blood in getting the flesh from Antonio's body.

pound of flesh

²

1. Creditors who insist on having their “pound of flesh” are those who cruelly demand the repayment of a debt, no matter how much suffering it will cost the debtor: “The bank will have its pound of flesh; it is going to foreclose on our mortgage and force us to sell our home.” The expression is from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare .

Notes

People who cruelly or unreasonably insist on their rights are said to be demanding their “pound of flesh.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of pound of flesh¹

from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1596), Act IV, scene i

Idioms and Phrases

A debt whose payment is harshly insisted on, as in The other members of the cartel all want their pound of flesh from Brazil . This expression alludes to the scene in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (4:1) where the moneylender Shylock demands the pound of flesh promised him in payment for a loan, and Portia responds that he may have it but without an ounce of blood (since blood was not promised). [c. 1600]