# What does ‘cost an arm and a leg’ mean?

To “cost an arm and a leg” means to be extremely expensive. A 20th-century American idiom; Brewer's 1898 does not record it. The image is of a price that costs more than money.

## What it means

- A 20th-century American idiom; Brewer's 1898 does not record it. The image is of a price that costs more than money.

## Action steps

1. Very common in casual complaint about prices.
2. Example: That car cost an arm and a leg.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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Published: 2026-07-18T04:16:34.622563+00:00
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