leading strings
Americanplural noun
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strings for leading and supporting a child learning to walk.
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excessively restraining guidance.
His parents tried to keep him in leading strings, but he finally married and moved away.
Etymology
Origin of leading strings
First recorded in 1670–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Right or wrong, Britain is not responsible for it, and Mr. Wallace's picture of the United States in leading strings is quite fanciful.
From Time Magazine Archive
Meanwhile the English drama, freed from its leading strings, will find its own way for itself.
From The English Stage Being an Account of the Victorian Drama by Filon, Augustin
“In it is pictured the French at school, at war, in leading strings, in love, at work, at play, and at table, in trouble, in England, etc., etc.,”
From A Frenchman in America Recollections of Men and Things by O'Rell, Max
"I reckon I will have to put leading strings on both of you," replied Lawrence, with a smile.
From The Courier of the Ozarks by Dunn, Byron A. (Byron Archibald)
This lad, in his leading strings, was an incomparable gossip.
From Revisiting the Earth by Hill, James Langdon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
