on one's head

prepositional phrase

Assumed or borne, as a responsibility or something blameworthy.

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticAssumed or borne, as a responsibility or something blameworthy.

    cleopatra [vehemently] He has shed the blood of my servant Ftatateeta. On your head be it as upon his, Cæsar, if you hold him free of it.

    1898, [George] Bernard Shaw, “Cæsar and Cleopatra”, in Three Plays for Puritans: The Devil’s Disciple, Cæsar and Cleopatra, & Captain Brassbound’s Conversion, London: Grant Richards, […], published 1901, →OCLC, Act V, page 198
  2. idiomaticAssigned by government authorities as a bounty or penalty.

    There was a Rs 2.5 million reward on his head.

    2007 December 13, “Demon dacoit resurrected, sent back to underworld”, in Daily Times, Pakistan
    3 more examples

    [M]y father is a man / Outlawed and exiled, under ban; / The price of blood is on his head, […]

    1810, Walter Scott, “Canto IV. The Prophecy.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza XVII, page 168

    ["T]here wasn't a man around there but had a price on his head and didn't dare show himself in the settlements," […]

    1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter IX, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 78

    The Bush Administration had made the capture of General Noriega a principal objective, putting a $1 million bounty on his head.

    1989 December 25, Larry Rohter, “Fighting in Panama; Noriega Seeks Asylum at Vatican Embassy”, in New York Times

Translations

Hungarian lelke rajta
  • lelke rajtaassumed or borne, as a responsibility or something blameworthy
Cite this entry
APA

on one's head. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20one's%20head

MLA

“on one's head.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20one's%20head. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on one's head,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20one's%20head.

Source: on one's head on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.