apron string

plural apron strings · alternative apron-string

1. One of the pair of strings or narrow sewn clothstrips used to fasten an apron around the wearer's waist.
2. idiomaticplural normallyA symbol of the domestic ties binding a male to a female (as a husband to a wife or a son to a mother).

   tied to someone's apron strings

   3 more examples

   [T]he opinion of the country was that my lord was tied to his wife's apron-strings, and that she ruled over him.

   1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 7, in The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. […] , volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] Smith, Elder, & Company, […], →OCLC

   Yes, Stiva may be right, I'm not manly with her, I'm tied to her apron-strings… Well, it can't be helped!

   1901 [1878], chapter 11, in Constance Garnett, transl., Anna Karenina, translation of Анна Каренина (Anna Karenina) by Leo Tolstoy, part 6

   "Pooh!" said Jerry, throwing out his chest, "I guess I can take care of myself without being tied to my mother's apron strings!"

   1914, Thornton W. Burgess, chapter 1, in The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat