Definition of PURSE STRINGS

Examples of purse strings in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg News Softening wage growth and rising household debts are causing Chinese consumers to tighten their purse strings. — Lingling Wei, WSJ, "China’s Annual Economic Growth Rate Is Slowest Since 1990," 21 Jan. 2019 As the economic slowdown pushes consumers to tighten their purse strings, such consumers are generally more inclined to consider cheaper, non-Apple smartphones, Mr. Jia said. — Yoko Kubota, WSJ, "Apple Loses Ground to China’s Homegrown Rivals," 3 Jan. 2019 Other parts of the tech sector also are feeling a chill from the economic slowdown, as consumers and some financiers tighten their purse strings. — Yoko Kubota, WSJ, "Bike-Share Startup in China Veers Off Course," 21 Dec. 2018 Working on efficiency projects with the people who hold companies’ purse strings may allow consultants to cross sell big marketing projects. — Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, "Tech Consultants Are the New Mad Men," 9 Nov. 2018 Yes, money knows no boundaries, but some CEOs and venture capitalists do grumble about whether a country with a shoddy human rights record should be holding the purse string in the American economy’s most vibrant, innovative sector. — Theodore Schleifer, Recode, "In the Tesla drama, Saudi Arabia reminds Silicon Valley of its weight," 13 Aug. 2018 For much of the twentieth century, the real power in American politics rested not with U.S. representatives or senators but with the governors, mayors, and assemblymen who controlled local purse strings. — Yascha Mounk, The New Yorker, "The Rise of McPolitics," 12 Jan. 2015 But with owner Mike Ashley seemingly continuing to keep the purse strings drawn despite claiming there will be money available this summer, the St James' Park manager may have to offload in order to finance his transfer targets. — SI.com, "Newcastle Willing to Offload Fan Favourite to Finance Other Moves This Summer," 4 June 2018 Madrid already held Catalonia’s purse strings before direct rule was imposed because of earlier attempts to foment secession. — Jeannette Neumann, WSJ, "Spain Ceases Direct Rule in Catalonia," 2 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'purse strings.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.