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hold sway over
Idioms and Phrases
Dominate, have a controlling influence over, as in He held sway over the entire department . This idiom uses the noun sway in the sense of “power” or “dominion,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.Example Sentences
They hold sway over the city hall, the regional government building and the security services complex.
But he will still hold sway over the newspapers under their toothless grip.
The problem extends far beyond the politicians who hold sway over the nation's purse strings.
Then wilt thou be a greater king than thy father was, inasmuch as thou shalt hold sway over two great peoples.
All that helps man really to hold sway over nature is what is styled physical education.
They enter our lives and completely hold sway over us, and we are carried away by them.
As they were all equal there arose a demand for a bishop who should hold sway over them.
Fortunately many of the classics have lost only in parts their moral and intellectual value, and hence still hold sway over us.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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