Meanings
present singular third person strings along · participle present stringing along · participle past strung along · past strung along
- idiomatictransitiveTo keep somebody falsely believing that one has certain intentions.
She's been telling me for ages that she wants to meet up, but won't give me a date. I'm convinced she's stringing me along.
1 more example
What irks is the DfT's response of stringing the industry along. Far better would be for the DfT to say: "No, we are not upgrading this or that part of the railway - we must make the best of what we have."
2021 May 5, Philip Haigh, “I think we need better than this from the rail industry”, in RAIL, number 930, page 51
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
French mener en bateau
- mener en bateauto keep somebody falsely believing that one has certain intentions
German hinhalten, falsche Hoffnungen machen
- hinhaltento keep somebody falsely believing that one has certain intentions
- falsche Hoffnungen machento keep somebody falsely believing that one has certain intentions
Spanish esperanzar engañosamente
- esperanzar engañosamenteto keep somebody falsely believing that one has certain intentions
Cite this entry
string along. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/string%20along
“string along.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/string%20along. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “string along,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/string%20along.
Source: string along on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.