apron strings

American  

plural noun

1. the strings on an apron, used for securing it around one's person.

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idioms

1. tie to someone's apron strings, to make or be dependent on or dominated by someone.

   He has never married because he's tied to his mother's apron strings.

apron strings More Idioms  

1. see tied to someone's apron strings.

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Etymology

Origin of apron strings

First recorded in 1535–45

Example Sentences

This cutting of the apron strings sometimes comes early: Certain seal moms spend as little as three days nursing their pups before ducking beneath the chilly ocean waves, never to return.

From New York Times • May 1, 2021

How do I manage my mother’s anxieties while disentangling myself from her apron strings?

From Slate • Dec. 2, 2019

He tells me the scarification symbolises the purging of their mothers' blood and the gaining of their own adult blood - in a somewhat excruciating metaphorical severing of the apron strings.

From BBC • Aug. 25, 2018

Only in this frenzied ojyuken world could apron strings stir up such passion.

From Salon • Jul. 15, 2018

This time as she came away, she absently untied and re-tied her apron strings, taking up what little slack her enormous waistline allowed.

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger