"tighten the purse strings" meaning in English

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "loosen the purse strings"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tightens the purse strings",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tightening the purse strings",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tightened the purse strings",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tightened the purse strings",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "tighten the purse strings (third-person singular simple present tightens the purse strings, present participle tightening the purse strings, simple past and past participle tightened the purse strings)",
      "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"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1894, New Zealand Parliament, Parliamentary debates, page 710",
          "text": "...would have the opposite effect entirely, and would tighten the purse-strings of capitalists and the employers of...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989 July 24, editorial, “Companies still backing the efforts of net managers”, in Network World, volume 6, number 29, page 28",
          "text": "It's hard for upper management to tighten the purse strings on a project that promises to save money, boost productivity and enable employees to respond better and faster to changing competitive situations.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To decrease spending or disallow increased spending; to increase control of spending."
      ],
      "id": "en-tighten_the_purse_strings-en-verb-Oi~4O1HQ",
      "links": [
        [
          "spending",
          "spending"
        ],
        [
          "disallow",
          "disallow"
        ],
        [
          "increase",
          "increase"
        ],
        [
          "control",
          "control"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, colloquial) To decrease spending or disallow increased spending; to increase control of spending."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "hold the purse strings"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "tighten the purse-strings"
        },
        {
          "word": "tighten the pursestrings"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to decrease or cause to decrease spending",
          "word": "tiukentaa kukkaron nyörejä"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to decrease or cause to decrease spending",
          "word": "den Gürtel enger schnallen"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to decrease or cause to decrease spending",
          "tags": [
            "literally"
          ],
          "word": "stringere i cordoni della borsa"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to decrease or cause to decrease spending",
          "word": "tirare la cinghia"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tighten the purse strings.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tighten_the_purse_strings.ogg/En-au-tighten_the_purse_strings.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tighten_the_purse_strings.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tighten the purse strings"
}

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "loosen the purse strings"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tightens the purse strings",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tightening the purse strings",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tightened the purse strings",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tightened the purse strings",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "tighten the purse strings (third-person singular simple present tightens the purse strings, present participle tightening the purse strings, simple past and past participle tightened the purse strings)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "hold the purse strings"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1894, New Zealand Parliament, Parliamentary debates, page 710",
          "text": "...would have the opposite effect entirely, and would tighten the purse-strings of capitalists and the employers of...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989 July 24, editorial, “Companies still backing the efforts of net managers”, in Network World, volume 6, number 29, page 28",
          "text": "It's hard for upper management to tighten the purse strings on a project that promises to save money, boost productivity and enable employees to respond better and faster to changing competitive situations.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To decrease spending or disallow increased spending; to increase control of spending."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "spending",
          "spending"
        ],
        [
          "disallow",
          "disallow"
        ],
        [
          "increase",
          "increase"
        ],
        [
          "control",
          "control"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, colloquial) To decrease spending or disallow increased spending; to increase control of spending."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tighten the purse strings.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tighten_the_purse_strings.ogg/En-au-tighten_the_purse_strings.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tighten_the_purse_strings.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "tighten the purse-strings"
    },
    {
      "word": "tighten the pursestrings"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to decrease or cause to decrease spending",
      "word": "tiukentaa kukkaron nyörejä"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to decrease or cause to decrease spending",
      "word": "den Gürtel enger schnallen"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to decrease or cause to decrease spending",
      "tags": [
        "literally"
      ],
      "word": "stringere i cordoni della borsa"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to decrease or cause to decrease spending",
      "word": "tirare la cinghia"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tighten the purse strings"
}