"tie someone's hands" meaning in English

See tie someone's hands in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-tie someone's hands.ogg Forms: ties someone's hands [present, singular, third-person], tying someone's hands [participle, present], tied someone's hands [participle, past], tied someone's hands [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} tie someone's hands (third-person singular simple present ties someone's hands, present participle tying someone's hands, simple past and past participle tied someone's hands)
  1. (idiomatic, often in passive voice) To render someone powerless to act, to thwart someone. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: have one's hands tied, have one's hands full
    Sense id: en-tie_someone's_hands-en-verb-Z6vMtVNN Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English predicates, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ties someone's hands",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tying someone's hands",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tied someone's hands",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tied someone's hands",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "tie someone's hands (third-person singular simple present ties someone's hands, present participle tying someone's hands, simple past and past participle tied someone's hands)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "This contract would have tied my hands.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "I'd like to help you, but my hands are tied.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To render someone powerless to act, to thwart someone."
      ],
      "id": "en-tie_someone's_hands-en-verb-Z6vMtVNN",
      "links": [
        [
          "passive voice",
          "passive voice"
        ],
        [
          "render",
          "render"
        ],
        [
          "powerless",
          "powerless"
        ],
        [
          "thwart",
          "thwart"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "often in passive voice",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, often in passive voice) To render someone powerless to act, to thwart someone."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "have one's hands tied"
        },
        {
          "word": "have one's hands full"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tie someone's hands.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/63/En-au-tie_someone%27s_hands.ogg/En-au-tie_someone%27s_hands.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/En-au-tie_someone%27s_hands.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tie someone's hands"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ties someone's hands",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tying someone's hands",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tied someone's hands",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tied someone's hands",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "tie someone's hands (third-person singular simple present ties someone's hands, present participle tying someone's hands, simple past and past participle tied someone's hands)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "have one's hands tied"
    },
    {
      "word": "have one's hands full"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "This contract would have tied my hands.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "I'd like to help you, but my hands are tied.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To render someone powerless to act, to thwart someone."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "passive voice",
          "passive voice"
        ],
        [
          "render",
          "render"
        ],
        [
          "powerless",
          "powerless"
        ],
        [
          "thwart",
          "thwart"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "often in passive voice",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, often in passive voice) To render someone powerless to act, to thwart someone."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tie someone's hands.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/63/En-au-tie_someone%27s_hands.ogg/En-au-tie_someone%27s_hands.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/En-au-tie_someone%27s_hands.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tie someone's hands"
}

Download raw JSONL data for tie someone's hands meaning in English (1.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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.

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