take someone's life

1. take one's life in one's hands . Take a serious risk, as in Climbing without oxygen is really taking your life in your hands .

2. Kill someone, as in They argued about invoking the death penalty for taking someone's life . [c. 1300]

3. take one's own life . Commit suicide, as in Most churches have long opposed taking one's own life . [First half of 1900s]