under one's thumb
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Prepositional phrase
[edit]- (idiomatic) Completely controlled by someone; at someone's command.
- She has the entire crew under her thumb. They would do anything for her.
- 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl::
- ...when you find a man under his wife's thumb you can always be sure there's a soft spot in him somewhere.
- 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 144:
- `Fatty's under the thumb. Yeah it's not hard to see who wears the pants in that family. The wuss.'
Translations
[edit]under one's thumb
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