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
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Noun
The American designer brought Miceli on board with him at Louis Vuitton, eventually handing her the design reins for fashion jewelry.—Miles Socha, Footwear News, 4 Sep. 2025 Belong by Jay Som — 10/10 Melina Duterte is finally back behind the reins as Jay Som for the first time in six years, after spending time producing and playing for other artists, including a little band known as boygenius.—James Factora, Them., 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
Instead of reining him in, Robinson is expected to give his quarterback the freedom to attack deep and test defenses consistently.—Cecil Merkerson Iii, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Aug. 2025 Going too far on wanting to rein this in is disconcerting and adverse, perhaps spurring an unintentional, unsavory consequence.—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 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
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