arm and a leg

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“It should not cost an arm and a leg to take the family to a baseball game or attend your favorite musician’s show.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2025

Most famously, former navy diver Paul de Gelder was left without an arm and a leg after he was attacked by a bull shark during a counter-terrorism exercise in Sydney Harbour in 2009.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2024

But there may be other items on the list that do not cost an arm and a leg.

From Reuters • Feb. 21, 2023

This time, in a work well-timed to the world’s inflation crisis, they want to show that it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, either.

From Washington Post • Jun. 26, 2022

Bet their parents paid an arm and a leg for them, too.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen