on a string

Idioms  

1. Under someone's control, as in She'll drop everything whenever Sam asks for something—he's got her on a string. This expression, alluding to pulling an animal on a leash, dates from the late 1500s, when it was put as in a string.

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Example Sentences

Together, their students and postdocs collaborated on a string of papers pioneering chip-making techniques involving metal-organic frameworks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

“Obviously, you can’t do it individually by yourself. It has to be five guys on a string, communication, always at an all-time high.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

The single combat involves swinging a conker -- a hardened horse chestnut -- on a string at your opponent's nut with murderous venom, until one is smashed to pieces.

From Barron's • Oct. 17, 2025

In smaller establishments it might be a key dangling on a string and a lump of wood, but it amounts to the same thing.

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2025

Watch a baby just as he or she starts to cry, and you’ll often see the frontalis, pars medialis shoot up as if it were on a string.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• attentive
• compliant
• deferential
• devoted
• docile
• dutiful
• faithful
• law-abiding
• loyal
• respectful
• subservient