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
Brynmor	-	Welsh
Viraja	-	Hinduism
Nicolas	nee-ko-LAH	French
AsunciÓN	ah-soon-THYON (Spanish), ah-soon-SYON (Latin American Spanish)	Spanish
Vladan	-	Serbian, Czech, Slovak
Faramund	-	Ancient Germanic