Fig.: to cost or to pay an exorbitant amount of money. To cost may be substituted by to pay

In Manhattan, any accommodation, even the smallest one, will cost you an arm and a leg

A Manhattan, qualsiasi tipo di abitazione, anche la più piccola, costa un occhio della testa

On holiday brochures you see heavenly places, crystal sea, stunning resorts, every comfort, private pool on the terrace, but then, when you look at the prices, the dream is over: your vacation will cost you an arm and a leg

Nei dépliant turistici vedi dei posti paradisiaci, mare cristallino, resort magnifiche, tutti i comfort, piscina privata sul terrazzo, ma poi guardi i prezzi e ti rendi conto che il sogno finisce perché costano non uno, ma tre occhi della testa

This expression is a metaphor about precious items that no one would consider selling other than at an enormous price. It is an American phrase, coined sometime after WWII. The similar line “I'd give my right arm…” dates from the early 1600s. After the American Civil War, Congress enacted a special pension for soldiers who had lost both an arm and a leg. The phrase “cost an arm and a leg” begins to crop up in newspaper archives in 1901, referring to accidents and war injuries. In 1949, it shows up in the figurative sense