purse string
7
5.5
- noun
- Informal
:
control financiero
- At other times, Congressional intervention in foreign policy occurred through control of the national purse strings.
- control the purse strings
And he makes like having a a, he uses the purse strings to control that.
- And he makes like having a a, he uses the purse strings to control that.
Examples
-
From January 2007 on, the Democrats have had control of the purse strings.
Blog text (8) -
Congress holds the purse strings, and that is their primary source of power.
Blog text (29) -
We should network with those who control the research purse strings.
Academic text (2011) -
We the people truly hold the purse strings, not Congress as they would have us believe.
Blog text (22) -
By joining the political process, environmental health professionals can get to know the people who control the purse strings.
Academic text (2003) -
Of course, federal lawmakers control not only the purse strings, but the recognition string as well.
Academic text (1995) -
The House holds the purse strings; no money is disbursed without the approval of the House.
Blog text (17) -
The President is commander in chief, but Congress declares war and controls the military purse strings.
Blog text (28) -
Talking about the budget is not a red herring because it pertains to the purse strings you are mentioning.
Blog text (28) -
The city council debated whether to tighten the purse strings for local projects as budget cuts loomed.
Synonyms
4
6.6
Control over decisions by deciding how money is used
3
4.6
Control of money in a family or organization
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase evokes a drawstring on a purse so a learner who knows 'purse' and 'string' can infer a closing or tightening action; the metaphor of closing like a purse is fairly transparent. However, the specific technical meaning as a surgical suture technique is specialized and requires domain knowledge, so the exact interpretation is not fully predictable from the constituents alone.
Etymology
The idiom purse strings comes from the idea of holding the strings of a money pouch; whoever holds the purse strings controls the money, so the phrase means 'control over money'.