as in dime
a very small sum of money
trying to start a business on a shoestring
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in spindly
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shoestring
Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
After years of operating on a shoestring budget, the abundance felt like a relief.
—Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2025
Jennifer Epstein, Bloomberg.com, 7 May 2020
In Greater Cincinnati, a mighty, mostly volunteer needle-exchange effort on a shoestring budget started in 2014.
—Terry Demio, USA TODAY, 15 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for shoestring
Noun
Review Park shows what state-building on a shoestring budget looks like in this fascinating historical account of colonial and postcolonial Kenya.
—Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
After years of operating on a shoestring budget, the abundance felt like a relief.
—Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
In 2016, the Trump campaign relied on stadium rallies, TV appearances and social media to compensate for its shoestring budget and thin staffing.
—Jennifer Epstein, Bloomberg.com, 7 May 2020
In Greater Cincinnati, a mighty, mostly volunteer needle-exchange effort on a shoestring budget started in 2014.
—Terry Demio, USA TODAY, 15 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for shoestring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoestring
Noun
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Edwards was credited by NBA.com with 12 potential assists in Game 4, and throughout this four-game series, he's totaled just 23 dimes (5.8 per game) on 41 total potential assists per game (10.25 potential assists per game).—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 May 2025
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Conservatives have long targeted public broadcasting for spending cuts, seeing it as a bastion of left-wing thinking that is sent over the airwaves on the taxpayer’s dime.—
Haisten Willis,
The Washington Examiner,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The brush was too spindly to climb and too thick for a fast getaway, and the big Bahamian guide saved my hide by swinging his heavy machete to knock the boar down and fall on it.—
Charles Elliott,
Outdoor Life,
1 May 2025
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Add pops of red to a neutral space or a spindly chair to capture cottage chic in your room.—
Nora Colomer,
FOXNews.com,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Their pads look deflated compared to the life rafts strapped to goalies today, the ones that make stringy 6-foot-4 bean poles look like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2025
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More specifically, fuzzballs and stringy supermazes have emerged as a way to solve a puzzle called the black hole information paradox.—
Clara Moskowitz,
Scientific American,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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As a tall, lanky receiver at 6-5, 195 pounds, Skinner is a decent route-runner who has speed and explosiveness to separate from defenders.—
Antwan Staley,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2025
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Romeo is a lanky boyish redhead (Niall Cunningham).—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Just who was this willowy blond from Iowa City, Iowa?—
Gia Kourlas,
New York Times,
25 Feb. 2025
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Only two bodies remain still: Ferran’s, in one corner of the platform, and that of a young man (Jabez Sykes) diagonally across from her, tall and willowy and pale — two statues that seem moonlit while the rest of the world writhes and sweats around them.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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In 2016, after a reedy Canadian professor named Jordan Peterson refused to use gender-neutral pronouns, he was taken up as a folk hero, like Galileo standing firm against the Inquisition.—
Andrew Marantz,
The New Yorker,
17 Mar. 2025
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The reedy, tree-like grass is a panda’s primary food source, especially the shoots.—
Monica Cull,
Discover Magazine,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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And don’t even think about trying to change clothes in a tight plane bathroom.—
Rylee Johnston,
Travel + Leisure,
10 May 2025
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Construction budgets will also increase if tighter immigration policies result in labor shortages.—
Ted Reed,
Forbes.com,
10 May 2025
Adjective
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Carlies, a 2024 fifth-round pick, showed promise as a rangy linebacker.—
James Boyd,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2025
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The rangy 6-foot-4 player is considered a four-star recruit and a top 70 player in the nation, according to 247Sports.—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
19 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shoestring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoestring. Accessed 15 May. 2025.
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