pull strings
Verb
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Verb
pull strings
- (intransitive, idiomatic) 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.
- (intransitive, idiomatic, often with “the” or a possessive adjective (such as “his”) before “strings”, pull one's strings) To control a person, organization, or situation by operating behind the scenes, as a puppeteer controls a marionette.
- 1992, Richard Berke, "The 1992 Campaign: Political Memo ↗," New York Times, 3 April (retrieved 18 July 2010):
- Mr. Brown is touchy about accusations that he is a packaged candidate, and bristles at the suggestion that Mr. Caddell pulls his strings.
- 2003, Michael Elliott et al., "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005144-2,00.html The War That Never Ends]," Time, 7 July:
- "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."
- 1992, Richard Berke, "The 1992 Campaign: Political Memo ↗," New York Times, 3 April (retrieved 18 July 2010):
- French: faire jouer ses relations, pistonner
- French: tirer les ficelles
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002