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- on a string
on a string
*on a string
Fig. under control, as one would control a marionette. (*Typically: get someone ~; have someone ~; keep someone ~.) She keeps him on a string so he won't get involved with other women.
on a string
Under someone's control, as in She'll drop everything whenever Sam asks for something-he's got her on a string. This expression, alluding to pulling an animal on a leash, dates from the late 1500s, when it was put as in a string.
Common Names:
Name | Gender | Pronounced | Usage |
Onyekachi | | - | Western African, Igbo |
Karissa | | kə-RIS-ə | English |
Vilhelm | | VEEL-helm (Finnish) | Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian |
Gobnet | | - | Irish |
Patricio | | pah-TREE-thyo (Spanish), pah-TREE-syo (Latin American Spanish) | Spanish |
Erwin | | ER-veen (German), ER-win (Dutch), ER-vin (Dutch) | German, Dutch, Ancient Germanic |