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
Nanaminah-nah-meeJapanese
Ruth (2)RUYTH, RUTHLimburgish
Ayyub-Arabic
CathyKATH-eeEnglish
Ona (2)-Catalan
Kyrsten-English (Rare)