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apron strings

See more synonyms for apron strings on Thesaurus.com
plural noun
  1. the strings on an apron, used for securing it around one's person.
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Idioms
  1. tie to someone's apron strings, to make or be dependent on or dominated by someone: He has never married because he's tied to his mother's apron strings.
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Origin of apron strings

First recorded in 1535–45
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for apron strings

Historical Examples

  • Mothers are all like that when you cut loose from their apron-strings.

    The Trail of '98

    Robert W. Service

  • The apron-strings of an American mother are made of India-rubber.

    The Professor at the Breakfast Table

    Oliver Wendell Holmes (Sr.)

  • There's not a word ever passed between us that ties me to your apron-strings.

  • Mam' Lyddy tightened her apron-strings about her stout waist.

    Mam' Lyddy's Recognition

    Thomas Nelson Page

  • I didn't think in these days boys were tied to their mothers' apron-strings.

Idioms and Phrases with apron strings

apron strings

see tied to someone's apron strings.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.