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Glite Dictionary
to tighten the purse strings

to tighten the purse strings

1 5.8
To spend less money and control how money is used
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : reducir gastos
  • Will they tighten the purse strings as they did in the last two years of Gillick's run as GM, or will they open the pocketbooks like they did for Bill Bavasi?

Examples

  • At present, she had grown up and tightened the purse strings, but his low credit rating had not yet been eradicated.

    Blog text (21)

  • So now, with clients tightening the purse strings, there are no legions of junior minions anymore.

    Blog text (25)

  • Finding that tack fruitless, he compounded his error by threatening to tighten the purse strings.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • With rising costs, the family decided to tighten the purse strings to save money for a vacation.

  • Due to the economic downturn, many companies are forced to tighten the purse strings and cut unnecessary expenses.

  • The government plans to tighten the purse strings on non-essential projects to focus on crucial infrastructure needs.

Synonyms

to tighten one's belt
vsto tighten the purse strings
  • Informal
5 5.8

Spend less and live more simply because you have less money

is about reducing or controlling money regardless of personal income changes
to slash spending
vsto tighten the purse strings
4 4.2

To cut the amount of money a person or group uses by a lot

may mean reducing or controlling money without the extreme cuts
to curtail spending
vsto tighten the purse strings
1 4.3

To spend less money to save or avoid debt

focuses on tightening control over money rather than only lowering amounts

Antonyms

to loosen the purse strings
  • Informal
1 6.5

To allow someone to spend more money

How Frugal

to withhold
210 5.1
to tighten the purse strings
  • Informal
1 5.8
to cut back
169 2.9
spendy
  • UK
1 8.2

Surface Forms

tighten the purse strings infinitive
tightened the purse strings past
tightened the purse strings past participle
tightening the purse strings present participle
tightens the purse strings third person singular

Morphology

tighten + the + purse + strings

The verb 'tighten' (to make more restrictive) combined with 'purse' (a container for money) and 'strings' evokes the idea of restricting access to money, so the general sense of reducing spending is partially inferable from the parts. However, the mapping from literal 'strings on a purse' to the abstract notion of financial control is metaphorical and conventionalized, so a B1 learner may not fully predict the idiomatic use without prior exposure.

Etymology

Tighten the purse strings comes from the picture of old coin purses that closed with a string. People would tighten the purse strings to hold their coins in, so the phrase now means to 'reduce spending' or 'control money'.