Dictionary

pull strings en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Suggesting a puppet show, where characters are moved by pulling attached strings.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To manipulate a situation, especially by asking favours of others; to use one's influence with others to attain a desired goal.
   • He has the job not because of talent, but because his dad pulled strings with the boss.
2. (idiomatic, intransitive, often, qualifier:pull one's strings, with “the” or a possessive adjective (such as “his”) before “strings”) To control a person, organization, or situation by operating behind the scenes, as a puppeteer controls a marionette.
   • "The DfT is pulling all the strings. It is making every decision. It is telling companies what they can and cannot spend, right down to very small amounts of money. That's the reason they will declare the train operators to be under public control." 2020 July 29, Paul Clifton, “Rail nationalisation moves a step closer”, in Rail, page 8:
   • But with the lively Dos Santos pulling the strings behind strikers Pavlyuchenko and Defoe, Spurs controlled the first half without finding the breakthrough their dominance deserved. 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport:
   • Mr. Brown is touchy about accusations that he is a packaged candidate, and bristles at the suggestion that Mr. Caddell pulls his strings. 1992 April 3, Richard Berke, “The 1992 Campaign: Political Memo”, in New York Times, retrieved 18 Jul 2010:
   • "It may have begun that way," says a senior Pentagon official, "but as these attacks grow more numerous, you get the sense that there's someone pulling the strings at a higher level." 2003 July 7, Michael Elliott et al., “The War That Never Ends”, in Time:
   • We know who pulls the strings around here.
   • Master of Puppets, I'm pulling your strings 1986, “Master of Puppets”, in Metallica (music), Master of Puppets:

Forms

Relateds

puppet master · no strings attached · hold the purse strings · pull the string

Translations (16)

nb trekke i trådene (to control behind the scenes) · pl pociągnąć za sznurki (to control behind the scenes) · pl używać wpływów (to use one's influence with others) · fr pistonner (to use one's influence with others) · fr tirer les ficelles (to control behind the scenes) · ru заправлять (to control behind the scenes) · pl pociągać za sznurki (to control behind the scenes) · fr faire jouer ses relations (to use one's influence with others) · pl użyć wpływów (to use one's influence with others) · de die Fäden ziehen (to control behind the scenes) · ko 빽을 쓰다 (to use one's influence with others) · ko 인맥을 쓰다 (to use one's influence with others) · mi whakakawe (to use one's influence with others) · pt manipular (to control behind the scenes) · ko 연줄을 쓰다 (to use one's influence with others) · pt mexer os pauzinhos (to use one's influence with others)