hold/control the purse strings

idiom

: to make the decisions about how money is spent
The museum's board of directors holds/controls the purse strings.

Examples of hold/control the purse strings in a Sentence

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The corporations that control the purse strings don’t like it. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Oct. 2024 Yes, but: Hartzell won support from lawmakers — who control the purse strings at the public university — as well as the key donors and UT System Board of Regents, which rejected protesters' demands for the university to divest from companies doing business in Israel. — Asher Price, Axios, 16 Aug. 2024

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“Hold/control the purse strings.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hold%2Fcontrol%20the%20purse%20strings. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.

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