apron string
2
6.8
- noun
- /ˈeɪprən strɪŋ/
- Informal
:
dependencia materna
- A smart lad doesn't stay tied to his mother's apron strings.
- cut the apron strings
- mother's apron strings
- tied to her apron strings
Examples
-
After graduating from college, he decided it was time to cut the apron strings and live independently.
-
Before I ever met him, he was tied to his mama's apron strings.
Fiction book (2000) -
And Essie's apron strings were like chains, let me tell you.
Fiction book (2000) -
Many people have a hard time cutting their apron strings and stepping out on their own after moving back home.
-
She felt like she was still tied to her parents' apron strings even though she was in her thirties.
Antonyms
608
3.0
Freedom from control by others, for example when a country is free or a person supports themselves
How Dependent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal constituents 'apron' (protective cloth) and 'string' (thin cord) do not directly convey the social meaning of continued dependence on one's mother; the phrase is a conventionalized metaphor (apron-strings) for maternal control that is culturally specific and not compositionally predictable. A B1 learner who knows the two words but has not encountered the idiom would be unlikely to infer the dependent/parental-control sense.
Etymology
Apron strings comes from the picture of a child holding a mother's apron by its ties; being 'tied to the apron strings' looked like you could not leave or act alone, so it now means 'dependence' or 'being controlled' by a parent.