tie one's hands

Prevent one from acting, as in I can't help you this time; my hands are tied by the club's rules. This metaphoric term transfers physical bondage to other kinds of constraint. It was first recorded in 1642.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Abdul-Hamid	-	Arabic
ElŻBieta	elzh-BYE-tah	Polish
Markuss	-	Latvian
Lot (2)	-	Arthurian Romance
Mamoun	-	Arabic
Peter	['pi:tə]