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
"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 English Pharisees and French Crocodiles and Other Anglo-French Typical Characters by O'Rell, Max
Yes, it is true that if you take a child from the leading strings that upheld it, the child falls down.
From Woman on Her Own, False Gods and The Red Robe Three Plays By Brieux by Miall, Bernard
If the people will stand it, then they deserve to be kept in leading strings by all that medley.
From Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863 by De Gurowski, Adam G., count
I am surrounded, as it were, by barriers; hemmed in, bound up, kept in leading strings.
From The Light of Scarthey by Castle, Egerton
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.
