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apron string. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
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Pronunciation
Noun
apron string (plural apron strings)
- One of the pair of strings or narrow sewn clothstrips used to fasten an apron around the wearer's waist.
- (idiomatic, usually pluralized) A symbol of the domestic ties binding a male to a female (as a husband to a wife or a son to a mother).
1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 7, in The History of Henry Esmond, Esq.:[T]he opinion of the country was that my lord was tied to his wife's apron-strings, and that she ruled over him.
1914, Thornton W. Burgess, chapter 1, in The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat:"Pooh!" said Jerry, throwing out his chest, "I guess I can take care of myself without being tied to my mother's apron strings!"
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