leading strings

American  

[lee-ding] / ˈli dɪŋ /

plural noun

1. strings for leading and supporting a child learning to walk.

2. 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

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

Enraged at being accused of being held in leading strings by three half-crazed women, the emperor signed the warrant for their exile to the great joy of the envious courtiers.

From Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c. by Hell, Xavier Hommaire de

But taking the Dean would be to put himself into the Dean's leading strings.

From Is He Popenjoy? by Trollope, Anthony

I believe Mr. Hugh Darcy did invest you with a species of authority over my actions, but at six-and-twenty, don't you think a fellow ought to be let loose from the leading strings?

From Norine's Revenge; Sir Noel's Heir by Fleming, May Agnes

It is but now, that, unconsciously, mankind is beginning to emerge from the leading strings of its infancy, which became an iron bondage to its prolonged childhood.

From The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilizations by Nuttall, Zelia