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
Kelemen	-	Hungarian
Ursa	-	Late Roman
Petty	['peti]
Jessalyn	JES-ə-lin	English (Rare)
Morin	['mɔ:rin]
Ahmed	-	Turkish, Bosnian, Arabic, Urdu, Pashto