purse strings
the right or power to manage the disposition of money: in control of the family purse strings.
Idioms about purse strings
hold the purse strings, to have the power to determine how money shall be spent.
loosen / tighten the purse strings, to increase or decrease expenditures or the availability of money: The budget committee is in the process of tightening the purse strings.
Origin of purse strings
1Words Nearby purse strings
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use purse strings in a sentence
These are longer than traditional ads, mini-stories, designed to pull at heart- as well as purse strings.
How Monty The Penguin Won Christmas: Britain’s Epic, Emotional Commercials | Tim Teeman | November 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWithout a doubt, it will loosen the purse strings of nervous investors.
Justice Department: Good News for Recreational Stoners | Winston Ross | August 30, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut would it help the movie if the studio loosened up the purse strings?
The problem extends far beyond the politicians who hold sway over the nation's purse strings.
Seems their parents, shell-shocked by their brokerage statements, have tightened the purse strings.
He was a magnificent paymaster to his sneaks; and bound them to him with the strongest of all ties—his purse-strings.
The Monctons: A Novel, Volume I | Susanna Moodie"It would take more than a gallon of rum to make old Cameron loosen his purse strings," she remembered having heard Conal say.
The Pioneers | Katharine Susannah PrichardI should have to coax my parents into loosening their purse-strings, and get them to buy me a beautiful new jacket.
The only one that could be called so was Don Pedro Miranda, and he would rather have a tooth drawn than loosen his purse-strings.
The Fourth Estate, vol. 2 | Armando Palacio ValdsThe young voevoda whom the people loved had the art of opening purse-strings as well as of forcing strongholds.
The Rise of the Russian Empire | Hector H. Munro
British Dictionary definitions for purse strings
control of finance or expenditure (esp in such phrases as hold or control the purse strings)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with purse strings
Financial resources or control of them, as in His mother doesn't want to let go of the purse strings because he may make some foolish investments. This expression is often extended to hold or tighten or loosen the purse strings, as in As long as Dad holds the purse strings, we have to consider his wishes, or The company is tightening the purse strings and will not be hiring many new people this year. The purse strings in this idiom are the means of opening and closing a drawstring purse. [Early 1400s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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