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
Ferdinand	FER-dee-nahnt (German, Dutch), FUR-di-nand (English), FER-dee-nahnd (Finnish)	German, French, Dutch, English, Czech, Slovene, Finnish, Ancient Germanic
Shawnda	SHAWN-də	English
Miljana	-	Serbian
Kjellfrid	-	Norwegian
Rozanne	ro-ZAN	English
Laurelle	LAWR-əl	English (Rare)