take\ the\ law\ into\ one's\ own\ hands

take\ the\ law\ into\ one's\ own\ hands
v. phr.
To protect one's supposed rights or punish a suspected wrongdoer without reference to a court. - An overused expression.

When the men of the settlement caught the suspected murderer, they took the law into their own hands and hanged him to a tree.

His farm was going to be sold for taxes, but he took the law into his own hands and drove the sheriff away with a shotgun.

Compare: law unto oneself, take the bit in one's mouth

Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". . 1997.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • take the law into one's own hands — {v. phr.} To protect one s supposed rights or punish a suspected wrongdoer without reference to a court. An overused expression. * /When the men of the settlement caught the suspected murderer, they took the law into their own hands and hanged… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • take the law into one's own hands — {v. phr.} To protect one s supposed rights or punish a suspected wrongdoer without reference to a court. An overused expression. * /When the men of the settlement caught the suspected murderer, they took the law into their own hands and hanged… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • take the law into one's own hands — To obtain justice, or what one considers to be justice, by one s own actions, without recourse to the law, the police, etc • • • Main Entry: ↑law * * * punish someone for an offense according to one s own ideas of justice, esp. in an illegal or… …   Useful english dictionary

  • take the law into one's own hands — ► take the law into one s own hands illegally or violently punish someone according to one s own ideas of justice. Main Entry: ↑law …   English terms dictionary

  • take the law into one's own hands — idi take the law into one s own hands, to administer justice as one sees fit without recourse to legal processes …   From formal English to slang

  • take the law into one's own hands — punish someone according to one s own ideas of justice, especially illegally or violently. → lavish something on …   English new terms dictionary

  • into one's own hands — See: TAKE THE LAW INTO ONE S OWN HANDS …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • into one's own hands — See: TAKE THE LAW INTO ONE S OWN HANDS …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • into\ one's\ own\ hands — See: take the law into one s own hands …   Словарь американских идиом

  • take the law into one's hands — exact justice without the court system, take one s own revenge …   English contemporary dictionary

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