string along

verb

strung along; stringing along; strings along

transitive verb

1
: to keep waiting
strung him along until the boss was back from lunch
2
: deceive, fool
stringing us along with ruses and red herringsJohn Powers

intransitive verb

: go along, agree
held her tongue and strung along with the rest of them

Example Sentences

the student succeeded in stringing even his teachers along with his tales of family hardships
Recent Examples on the Web This forces you to install the camera close by a power outlet or string along an extension cable to reach the device. Tom Price, Popular Mechanics, 15 Mar. 2023 Is Jules also an expert performer away from the club spotlight, dispassionately stringing along his prey by playing sweetly submissive? Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Feb. 2023 For decades, mathematicians had their eye on a candidate: the (2, 1) cable of the figure-eight knot, made by threading a second string along a figure-eight knot and then merging the two strings to make a single knot. Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 2 Feb. 2023 At Christmastime, thick swags of white pine and arborvitae string along the entire length of the porch, with the occasional pair of galvanized bells tucked in for punctuation. Shaila Wunderlich, Country Living, 3 Jan. 2023 Paxton has maintained his innocence and legal watchdogs remain baffled as to his ability to string along the legal process. Dan Carson, Chron, 6 June 2022 Here’s my argument: When times were fat—like, six months ago—auto makers could afford to pad the bill and string along consumers with new features. Dan Neil, WSJ, 29 May 2020 Small white lights strung along the ceiling evoke a starry sky. Eric Velasco, al, 4 May 2020 The ski area resembles a vast white curtain strung along six high peaks, trails plummeting for 3,000 vertical feet among the folds and ripples. Cindy Hirschfeld, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'string along.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of string along was in 1914

Dictionary Entries Near string along

Cite this Entry

“String along.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/string%20along. Accessed 30 May. 2023.

Kids Definition

string along

verb
1
: to go along : agree
string along with the majority
2
: deceive sense 1, fool
would string us along with false promises
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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