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
Another century elapsed before the muse of the Hebrew drama escaped from leading strings.
From Jewish Literature and Other Essays by Karpeles, Gustav
And was it thus that the Lady Jess had all her “boys” in leading strings?
From Jessica Trent: Her Life on a Ranch by Raymond, Evelyn
It is not a cause for wonder, therefore, quite apart from special sources of discontent, that Cuba, which, by position is thrown into contact with progressive peoples, should chafe at her leading strings.
From Porto Rico Its History, Products and Possibilities... by Hall, Arthur D.
The other young lady was a slip of a girl just coming out; in fact, this was the first visit which she had ever paid out of leading strings.
From Tom Brown at Oxford by Hughes, Thomas
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.
