wear the pants

Idioms  

1. Exercise controlling authority in a household, as in Grandma wears the pants at our house. This idiom, generally applied to women and dating from the mid-1500s, a time when they wore only skirts, equates pants with an authoritative and properly masculine role. Originally put as wear the breeches, it remains in use despite current fashions.

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Example Sentences

My role as the youngest, was to bring the water hose to water the plants, and my elder sister, Didi’s, was to add soil, and keep the plants happy.

From Salon • May 9, 2026

"It is a 5am or 5:30am wake-up, walk the dogs, water the plants and then set up jobs for the staff, supervise and help where I can," Hartley says.

From BBC • May 27, 2025

To water the plants, do laundry and fill our pets’ bowls.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2024

It’s not just about the trees, “it’s about the water, the plants and the animals, the microorganisms,” and increasingly, it’s about climate change as forests play a critical role in sequestering carbon, Ms. Tauli-Corpuz said.

From New York Times • Jul. 8, 2022

The only thing I can think to say is: "Please water the plants in the courtyard. Especially the pittosporum. I'll be over to check on the garden as soon as I can."

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan