loosen the apron strings

verb

To allow greater freedom (to someone); to relax control of (someone).

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Meanings

verbloosen the apron strings (third-person singular simple present loosens the apron strings, present participle loosening the apron strings, simple past and past participle loosened the apron strings)

present singular third person loosens the apron strings · participle present loosening the apron strings · participle past loosened the apron strings · past loosened the apron strings

  1. colloquialidiomaticTo allow greater freedom (to someone); to relax control of (someone).

    They see how serious it is not to "loosen the apron strings"; how unfortunate it may be to talk about a child in his presence; how we must take people where...

    1948, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Education Association of the United States. Dept. of Supervision and Curriculum Development, “Educational leadership”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 6, page 534
Cite this entry
APA

loosen the apron strings. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/loosen%20the%20apron%20strings

MLA

“loosen the apron strings.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/loosen%20the%20apron%20strings. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “loosen the apron strings,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/loosen%20the%20apron%20strings.

Source: loosen the apron strings on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.