on one's head en · ADP
Meanings
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(idiomatic) Assumed 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:
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(idiomatic) Assigned by government authorities as a bounty or penalty.
["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:[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: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: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:
Relateds
price on someone's head · it's someone's funeral · to blame (to be)
Translations (1)
hu lelke rajta (assumed or borne, as a responsibility or something blameworthy)