under one's thumb

English

Pronunciation

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Prepositional phrase

under one's thumb

  1. (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.'

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