| 1. | the right or power to manage the disposition of money: in control of the family purse strings. |
| 2. | hold the purse strings, to have the power to determine how money shall be spent. |
| 3. | loosen or tighten the purse strings, to increase or decrease expenditures or the availability of money: The budget committee is in the process of tightening the purse strings. |
| purse strings or purse·strings (pûrs'strĭngz') pl.n. Financial support or resources, or control over them: the politicians who control federal purse strings; tightened the corporate purse strings. |
purse strings
Financial resources or control of them, as in His mother doesn't want to let go of the purse strings because he may make some foolish investments. This expression is often extended to hold or tighten or loosen the purse strings, as in As long as Dad holds the purse strings, we have to consider his wishes, or The company is tightening the purse strings and will not be hiring many new people this year. The purse strings in this idiom are the means of opening and closing a drawstring purse. [Early 1400s]
