clinging vine

American  

noun

Informal.

1. a person who behaves in a helpless and dependent manner in relationships with others.

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clinging vine British  

noun

1. informal a woman who displays excessive emotional dependence on a man

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clinging vine Idioms  

1. An overly dependent person, as in A clinging vine since her marriage, she's never made a decision on her own. Nearly always applied to a woman (or wife), this metaphor for a climbing plant today criticizes dependency rather than, as in former times, praising the vine's fruitfulness.

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Etymology

Origin of clinging vine

An Americanism dating back to 1960–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clinging vine

He checked a clinging vine with white flowers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2015

But Marta was neither a pecking hen nor a clinging vine.

From Time Magazine Archive

But Yukiko is a clinging vine who almost prefers clinging to her family.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was all so odd that Hostess Esther Williams, an athletic sort and no clinging vine, was moved to comment on one male's observation: "I don't believe he believes a word that he's saying."

From Time Magazine Archive

She had, very likely, been the clinging vine when she should have been the sturdy oak.

From Miss Billy — Married by Porter, Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman)