Dictionary

shoestring en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃuːstɹɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈʃustɹɪŋ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The noun is derived from shoe + string. The adjective is derived from the noun, while the verb is derived from terms such as shoestring catch and shoestring tackle.

Meanings

1. (US, not-comparable) Of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player's shoes.

Deriveds

shoestring catch · shoestring tackle

Translations (1)

fi jalka- (of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player’s shoes)

shoestring en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃuːstɹɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈʃustɹɪŋ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The noun is derived from shoe + string. The adjective is derived from the noun, while the verb is derived from terms such as shoestring catch and shoestring tackle.

Meanings

1. (US) The string or lace used to secure a shoe to the foot; a shoelace.
   • Your shoestring is untied.
   • I am ſure ſhe is not half ſo beautiful, and vvill even venture to ſay, that ſhe is not vvorthy to tie her majeſty's ſhoe-ſtrings. 1755, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “The Pleasant Artifice Practised to Extricate Our Enamoured Knight from the Most Rigorous Penance He had Imposed upon Himself”, in T[obias] Smollett, transl., The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, part I, book IV, page 221:
2. (attributive, figuratively, often) An object that is long and thin, like a shoestring (sense 1).
3. (attributive, figuratively, often) An object that is long and thin, like a shoestring (sense 1). ▸ A long, narrow cut of a food; a julienne.
   • shoestring French fries
4. (attributive, figuratively, often) Chiefly in on a shoestring: very little money; a tight budget.
   • He was able to organize the event on a shoestring.
   • As the 80s cult classic starring Madonna as a gorgeous grifter returns, director Susan Seidelman recalls capturing the zeitgeist on a shoestring budget[.] 2022 November 23, Hadley Freeman, “Like a cinema virgin: how Madonna went stratospheric making Desperately Seeking Susan”, in The Guardian:

Forms

Coordinates

bootstring

Deriveds

shoestringer · shoestring fungus · on a shoestring · shoestring mushroom · shoestring potato · shoestring rot · shoestring annexation · shoestring French fry · shoestring fern · shoestring tie · shoestring necktie · shoestring root rot · shoestring fry · devil's shoestring · prairie shoestring · shoestring tackle

Translations (14)

fr allumette (long, narrow cut of a food — see also julienne) · fi taskuraha (very little money; a tight budget) · ru небольша́я су́мма де́нег (very little money; a tight budget) · ru небольши́е сбереже́ния (very little money; a tight budget) · cs napjatý rozpočet (very little money; a tight budget) · fi tikku (long, narrow cut of a food — see also julienne) · ru соло́мка (long, narrow cut of a food — see also julienne) · bg жулиен (long, narrow cut of a food — see also julienne) · fr julienne (long, narrow cut of a food — see also julienne) · nl grijpstuiver (very little money; a tight budget) · bg ограничени средства (very little money; a tight budget) · fi pitkulainen (object that is long and thin) · fi julienne (long, narrow cut of a food — see also julienne) · fi kengännauhabudjetti (very little money; a tight budget)

shoestring en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃuːstɹɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈʃustɹɪŋ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The noun is derived from shoe + string. The adjective is derived from the noun, while the verb is derived from terms such as shoestring catch and shoestring tackle.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To tackle (a player) using a shoestring tackle (“one made near the ground, close to a player's shoes”).
2. (transitive) To catch (a ball) using a shoestring catch (“one made near the ground, close to a player's shoes”).
   • Most outfielders say that short-hopping a ball so that it looks as if it was caught is more an accident than an art form, but Coach Joe Nossek of the Indians actually tells his charges to hold up the ball after shoestringing it on the off chance that the umpire might be fooled. 1981 April 13, Steve Wulf, “Tricks of the Trade”, in Sports Illustrated Baseball: Four Decades of Sports Illustrated’s Finest Writing on America’s Favorite Pastime (Collector’s Library), Birmingham, Ala.: Oxmoor House, published 1994, →ISBN, page 275:
   • We didn't score in our half of the eighth, but it was only because Ernie's line drive was shoestringed by the Giant left fielder, with Rusty Howarth on second. 1976, Paul R. Rothweiler, The Sensuous Southpaw […], New York, N.Y.: Putnam, →ISBN, page 104:

Forms

Translations (3)

fi taklata alas (to tackle (a player) using a shoestring tackle) · fi taklata jalkoihin (to tackle (a player) using a shoestring tackle) · fi ottaa koppi matalalta (to catch (a ball) using a shoestring catch)