loosen the purse strings

English

Alternative forms

  • loosen the pursestrings
  • loosen the purse-strings

Verb

loosen the purse strings

  1. (idiomatic, colloquial) To increase spending or allow increased spending; to relax control of spending.
    • 1848, Parliament of Great Britain, “The Parliamentary debates”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 96‎, page cdlvii:
      He thought the effect of this language from the Prime Minister had been to loosen the purse-strings of the Treasury.
    • 2004, The 9/11 Commission report, final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (authorized edition), National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, page 358:
      Proponents of the counterterrorism agenda might respond by being less inclined to loosen the purse strings than they would have been if offered a convincing...

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