Noun
He has people working for him, but he has a tight rein on every part of the process.
after the president resigned, the vice president stepped in and took the reins of the company Verb
try to rein in your spending, so you have some money left for saving
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Noun
With that chilling realization, Alex hands the reins over to Serena (Kahyun Kim) and rejoins Tim just in time for the big snip.—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 30 Apr. 2025 China's outgoing Shenzhou 19 crew have handed over the reins of the Tiangong space station to a new set of astronauts.—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 28 Apr. 2025
Verb
Though the California numbers are dire, ghost guns pose threats to public safety and police across the country, which is one reason law enforcement has been nearly uniformly supportive of efforts to rein them in.—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2025 The spuriously-populist Mayor Fisk rules by executive fiat, sidelines anyone who tries to rein him in and cultivates an atmosphere of violent chaos.—Mike Hale, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for rein
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English reine, from Anglo-French resne, reine, from Vulgar Latin *retina, from Latin retinēre to restrain — more at retain
Share