to hold the reins
3
4.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
tener el control
- This has been based largely on the success of the Norwegian Labor Party (DNA, Det Norske Arbeiderpartiet), which has held the reins of government for forty of the fifty-two years since 1945.
- hold the reins of power
Examples
-
It's disingenuous of management to overwork their team and claim it was the only way when they hold the reins.
Blog text (23) -
For those who held the reins of state power, the dam had become a potent symbol of power.
Academic text (2005) -
This time, let me hold the reins.
-
Whoever held the body of the minor queen also held the reins of power within the land.
Academic text (2006) -
Look, Mikhail, I hold the reins now.
-
The question may be more about the willpower of those who hold the reins to use it.
Blog text (20) -
While they hold the reins of government, it is much more difficult for these movements to hide behind an oppositional rhetoric.
Blog text (26) -
Since she had defeated the demons of her childhood, she had held the reins in her own two hands and had taught her daughter to do the same.
Fiction book (1993) -
Mr. Jonas Silk, the old man and Horace's father, held the reins of the business in a tight grip.
Fiction book (1999) -
As the team leader, I will hold the reins on this project to ensure everything stays on track.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To guide a group or be in charge
∞
2.4
To have power over people, things, or situations
643
2.7
To be in charge of a group or a business
264
3.7
Keep power over a situation and stay calm
227
3.5
Start to have power and make decisions about something
99
4.2
To be in control and make the important decisions
98
3.5
Start to control a group or situation and lead others
81
4.7
Manage the running of something like a business or program
79
3.2
To start guiding a group or activity and make the main decisions
59
3.9
To lead a group or team
58
4.1
To be in charge of an activity or group
48
3.1
To tell other people what to do in a rude way
39
4.2
In charge of a group or organization
23
4.7
To drive a car or have control of a situation
19
4.3
In charge of a situation or group and guiding what happens
12
4.4
To lead an organization, group, or project
9
6.6
To have power over people or situations
3
6.3
To be in control of a group and make important decisions
3
7.0
To have control and make the main decisions
2
3.9
To manage and take care of something for someone or an organization
2
4.6
Lead a project or task and make sure it is finished
1
5.6
Manage and be in charge of an organization, program or activity in an official way
1
7.4
To take on responsibility as the next leader
To start managing a task or group after someone else managed it
Start managing something after the previous person leaves
Antonyms
How Much Control
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'hold' (to grasp or possess) with 'reins' (the instrument used to guide or control), so the phrase maps transparently onto the idea of having control or managing something. This physical-to-abstract metaphor (holding reins = exercising control) is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase hold the reins comes from people riding horses: the rider holds the straps called reins to steer and control the horse. So, when someone holds the reins today, it means they are 'in control' or 'managing' a situation.