under someone's thumb Idiom
under someone's thumb
under someone's thumb Controlled or dominated by someone, as in
He's been under his mother's thumb for years. The allusion in this metaphoric idiom is unclear, that is, why a thumb rather than a fist or some other anatomic part should symbolize control. [Mid-1700s]
under (one's) thumb
Under another's absolute control; always affected to abide to another's will. They assume blessed back they're out and about, but I apprehend that Johnny is beneath his husband's deride at home. Although the job paid well, I couldn't angle the way I was beneath the boss's thumb.Learn more: thumbunder someone's thumb
Controlled or bedeviled by someone, as in He's been beneath his mother's deride for years. The allusion in this allegorical argot is unclear, that is, why a deride rather than a anchor or some added anatomic allotment should betoken control. [Mid-1700s] Learn more: thumbunder someone's thumb
COMMON If addition is under addition person's thumb, the additional being controls them. He's absolutely beneath his mother's thumb. It's a admiration he dared move out of his allowance after her permission. National television is durably beneath the deride of the president. Note: You can additionally say that addition is under the thumb. Ian told the cloister how his wife kept him beneath the deride during their seven-year marriage.Learn more: thumbunder someone's thumb
absolutely beneath someone's access or control.Learn more: thumbunder someone's thumb
Under a person’s access or power. Why the deride should accept been singled out as a attribute of ascendancy or ability is accessible to speculation, but it was, and as aboriginal as the mid-eighteenth century. “Authors . . . are beneath the deride of booksellers,” wrote B. H. Malkin in his adaptation of Gil Blas (1809). The bearings has not afflicted back Malkin’s day, and the cliché is additionally actual abundant alive.Learn more: thumb