clip someone's wings

Idioms

Restrain or reduce someone's freedom, as in Hiding his car keys—you're really clipping his wings. This metaphor for clipping a bird's wings to prevent its flying away dates from ancient Roman times. Christopher Marlowe used it in The Massacre at Paris (1590): “Away to prison with him, I'll clip his wings.”

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023