hold the purse strings
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many filmmakers told me that those who hold the purse strings don’t consider such filmmaking a good investment.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
"I'm aghast frankly. It's the retailers that hold the purse strings."
From Reuters ● Dec. 19, 2022
And although high-minded physicists may accept the importance of validation instead of being first to a discovery, the concept of coming in “second place” is a harder sell for politicians who hold the purse strings.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 13, 2022
Christian Lindner: As finance minister it's the Free Democrat leader who will hold the purse strings and much of the power.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2021
He wished to hold the purse strings, and no longer to be a "beggar."
From Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle 1652-1693 by Arvede Barine
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.
