loosen the purse strings
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb[edit]
loosen the purse strings (third-person singular simple present loosens the purse strings, present participle loosening the purse strings, simple past and past participle loosened the purse strings)
- (idiomatic, colloquial) To increase spending or allow increased spending; to relax control of spending.
- 1848, Parliament of Great Britain, “The Parliamentary debates”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 96, page cdlvii:
- He thought the effect of this language from the Prime Minister had been to loosen the purse-strings of the Treasury.
- 2004, The 9/11 Commission report, final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (authorized edition), National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, page 358:
- Proponents of the counterterrorism agenda might respond by being less inclined to loosen the purse strings than they would have been if offered a convincing...
Antonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to increase or allow to increase spending
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