leading strings
[lee-ding]
|
plural noun
strings for leading and supporting a child learning to walk.
excessively restraining guidance: His parents tried to keep him in leading strings, but he finally married and moved away.
Origin of leading strings
First recorded in 1670–80
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for leading strings
Historical Examples of leading strings
Modern man has cut loose from leading-strings; he stands on his own feet.
Another SheafJohn Galsworthy
You can break from the leading-strings of that malignant Mr. Jennings.
A high-spirited lad like Alwyn would not be kept in leading-strings.
Doctor Luttrell's First PatientRosa Nouchette Carey
For many years he had been kept in leading-strings by Wolsey's and other clerical influences.
Henry VIII.A. F. Pollard
Has sir Willoughby Worret been lead in leading-strings all this time?
The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic CensorSamuel James Arnold