on a shoestring
8
5.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
con un presupuesto ajustado
- The festival was organized on a shoestring budget, yet it attracted a large audience.
- on a shoestring budget
Examples
-
There is, however, the terrific fan-made movie above, which was created on a shoestring budget of only $3,000.
Blog text (24) -
Years later, Billy Beane did the same thing and constructed competitive clubs on a shoestring budget by exploiting the market inefficiency.
Blog text (4) -
Women start more businesses than men on a shoestring budget.
Blog text (10) -
We operate on a shoestring for the first 6 months.
-
Opposing them, you have people working on a shoestring budget.
Blog text (34) -
He's been living on a shoestring for a while now, putting away money every year.
Academic text (2012) -
We are running this mission on a shoestring; we don't intend to make a profit from this flight.
Fiction book (2001) -
The key to marketing a special genre book on a shoestring budget is to have your sales plan in place before the first draft is written.
Academic text (2009) -
Foundations operate on a shoestring budget, as many non-profits do.
Blog text (30) -
Moyes has operated on a shoestring budget in the last decade, which makes his achievements even more remarkable.
Blog text (32)
Synonyms
40
1.0
In a way that costs little money
10
2.9
A situation with only a little money to spend
5
2.6
Without spending much money
5
3.9
A small amount of money for a project or event
Antonyms
How Expensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
on + a + shoestring
The phrase 'on a shoestring' does not yield its meaning ('with very little money') from the literal senses of 'on' + 'a' + 'shoestring' (a shoelace). The financial sense is a conventionalized, metaphorical extension that is not a predictable composition and is therefore idiomatic and likely unfamiliar to a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase on a shoestring comes from the simple image of someone who can only keep a worn shoe tied with a single shoestring. That picture of having almost nothing to spend is why it now means 'using very little money'.