Example
“The director gave the design team free rein to rethink the entire lobby.”
Dictionary details
Related idioms
Expressions connected by reviewed component words or topic tags.
carrot and stick
CEFR B2a strategy that uses both incentives and penalties to steer behavior
force someone's hand
CEFR B2To pressure someone into acting, often sooner than they had planned.
hold the purse strings
CEFR B2to control a budget and decide how money may be spent
play for time
CEFR B2to delay deliberately in order to prepare or avoid an immediate outcome
rule the roost
CEFR B2To hold the most power in a household, organization, or other group and make the main decisions.
the ball is in your court
CEFR B2It is now your responsibility to make the next decision or move.
Source methodology
Meanings, register, CEFR, and examples come from the reviewed dictionary record. Expression notes may describe a reviewed present-day word picture or a background note; they are not presented as verified etymology.