every man is a king—(also: every man a king ) an American catch-phrase implying the necessity for a fair redistribution of the nation’s wealth:
- In our democracy, as the founders noted, every man is a king.
every man is a king in his own house—(saying ) each man is the ruler of his own domain or property:
- The lack of a central authority let loose anarchy in the kingdom where every man was virtually a king in his own house.