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
Medea	mə-DEE-ə (English)	Greek Mythology (Latinized), Georgian
Sotiria	-	Greek
Karthika	-	Tamil, Indian, Malayalam
Rumena	-	Bulgarian, Macedonian
Arijana	-	Croatian
Miriam	MIR-ee-əm (English)	Hebrew, English, German, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew