"on a string" meaning in English

See on a string in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=}} on a string, {{en-PP}} on a string
  1. Under one's control or influence.
    Sense id: en-on_a_string-en-prep_phrase-NgAnVpHj Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 88 12
  2. (dated) In a state of great anxiety. Tags: dated
    Sense id: en-on_a_string-en-prep_phrase-6xYqEfTS

Download JSON data for on a string meaning in English (1.1kB)

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "on a string",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "on a string",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The magician had the audience on a string with his fascinating illusions.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1984, “No More Lonely Nights”, performed by Paul McCartney",
          "text": "You've only got my heart on a string and everything a-flutter",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Under one's control or influence."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_a_string-en-prep_phrase-NgAnVpHj",
      "links": [
        [
          "control",
          "control"
        ],
        [
          "influence",
          "influence"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "In a state of great anxiety."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_a_string-en-prep_phrase-6xYqEfTS",
      "links": [
        [
          "anxiety",
          "anxiety"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dated) In a state of great anxiety."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "on a string"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English prepositional phrases"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "on a string",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "on a string",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The magician had the audience on a string with his fascinating illusions.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1984, “No More Lonely Nights”, performed by Paul McCartney",
          "text": "You've only got my heart on a string and everything a-flutter",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Under one's control or influence."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "control",
          "control"
        ],
        [
          "influence",
          "influence"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dated terms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a state of great anxiety."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "anxiety",
          "anxiety"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dated) In a state of great anxiety."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "on a string"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.