tighten the purse strings



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tighten the purse strings

To become less liberal with or more controlling of one's expenditures; to decrease the availability of money for spending purposes. After losing my job, I've had to tighten the purse strings quite a bit. We've been behind schedule ever since the boss decided to tighten the purse strings on our project.
See also: purse, string, tighten

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Lewi-Biblical Hebrew
Tanu-Indian, Hindi
Areliay-REE-lie (English)Biblical
Bent (2)-Frisian
Jessica['dʒesikə]
Miroslavamee-rah-SLAH-vah (Russian)Czech, Slovak, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Slovene, Medieval Slavic