leading strings

leading strings
\\ˈlē-\ noun plural
1. : strings by which children are sometimes supported when beginning to walk
2. : a state of dependence or tutelage : guidance

leading strings had been so willingly accepted that they were scarcely felt — E.M.Forster

— usually used in the phrase in leading strings

no longer in leading strings to his wife or his wife's father — Francis Hackett

passed his whole adolescence in his mother's leading strings — Van Wyck Brooks

* * *

/lee"ding/
1. strings for leading and supporting a child learning to walk.
2. excessively restraining guidance: His parents tried to keep him in leading strings, but he finally married and moved away.
[1670-80]

* * *

leading reins or leading strings plural noun (US)
1. Children's walking reins
2. Vexatious care or custody
• • •
Main Entry: ↑lead

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Leading strings — Leading Lead ing, a. Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a leading motive; a leading man; a leading example. {Lead ing*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] {Leading case} (Law), a reported decision which has come to be regarded as settling the law …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • leading strings — [lēd′iŋ] n. 1. strings or straps formerly used to guide and support a young child learning to walk 2. a condition of childlike dependence or restricting guidance: usually in phr. in leading strings (to) …   English World dictionary

  • Leading strings — are narrow straps of fabric attached to children s clothing in seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe which originally functioned as a sort of leash to keep the child from straying too far or falling as they learned to walk.ee also*1650 1700… …   Wikipedia

  • leading strings — /lee ding/ 1. strings for leading and supporting a child learning to walk. 2. excessively restraining guidance: His parents tried to keep him in leading strings, but he finally married and moved away. [1670 80] * * * …   Universalium

  • To be in leading strings — Leading Lead ing, a. Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a leading motive; a leading man; a leading example. {Lead ing*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] {Leading case} (Law), a reported decision which has come to be regarded as settling the law …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Leading — Lead ing, a. Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a leading motive; a leading man; a leading example. {Lead ing*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] {Leading case} (Law), a reported decision which has come to be regarded as settling the law of the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Leading case — Leading Lead ing, a. Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a leading motive; a leading man; a leading example. {Lead ing*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] {Leading case} (Law), a reported decision which has come to be regarded as settling the law …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Leading motive — Leading Lead ing, a. Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a leading motive; a leading man; a leading example. {Lead ing*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] {Leading case} (Law), a reported decision which has come to be regarded as settling the law …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Leading note — Leading Lead ing, a. Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a leading motive; a leading man; a leading example. {Lead ing*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] {Leading case} (Law), a reported decision which has come to be regarded as settling the law …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Leading question — Leading Lead ing, a. Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a leading motive; a leading man; a leading example. {Lead ing*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] {Leading case} (Law), a reported decision which has come to be regarded as settling the law …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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