to cut the apron strings
1
7.7
- idiom
- Informal
:
cortar los lazos
- He knew it was time to cut the apron strings and make his own choices without relying on his family.
Examples
-
I'm cutting the apron strings.
-
After living with her parents for years, she finally decided to cut the apron strings and move into her own place.
-
Many young adults feel it's important to cut the apron strings to truly experience independence.
Synonyms
102
1.4
To move out of your parents' house to live by yourself
7
6.5
To make your own decisions without other people telling you what to do
5
6.6
To stop depending on someone or something and become independent
2
7.5
To be independent and take care of yourself without help
1
6.2
To free someone or something from limits so they can act more freely
1
6.8
To become independent from parents and make your own decisions
1
4.2
To start living on your own and try new things
Antonyms
How Independent
- Informal
5
4.4
164
1.9
- Informal
1
7.7
309
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
cut + the + apron + strings
The phrase evokes a concrete image—cutting cords attached to an apron—so a learner who knows 'cut', 'apron', and 'strings' can plausibly infer a sense of severing an attachment and gaining independence. However, the specific family/parental dependency sense is a conventionalized metaphor (apron-strings = parental tie) that is culturally specific and not fully predictable from the parts, so many B1 learners would not reliably derive the exact meaning without exposure.
Etymology
The idiom cut the apron strings comes from the picture of a child tied to a mother's apron by strings, and cutting those strings lets the child go. So it means 'to become independent' and stop relying on 'parents'.