TIGHT REIN ON, A Definition & Meaning

tight rein on, a

Strict control over, as in We told them to keep a tight rein on spending for the next year. This expression alludes to the narrow strap (rein) attached to a bit and used to control a horse's movements. Rein has been used to refer to any kind of restraint since the first half of the 1400s.

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Example Sentences

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Scaramucci’s departure Monday is a good start, but Kelly will have to keep a tight rein on a White House staff that is used to few boundaries.

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It doesn't wander as far afield as many French comics and animated features, but that just lets it keep a tight rein on a story that makes flawless emotional sense.

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But while the £6m summer signing from Wigan is anxious to return, Bruce will keep a tight rein on a man he wants to have ready for the start of the next campaign.

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He is the most powerful big-city mayor in the U.S., has the say-so over almost 7,000 municipal jobs, keeps tight rein on a nine-man city council whose makeup is determined not so much by personal ability as by quotas, e.g., five Catholics, three Protestants, one Jew.

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tight rein on, a

Example Sentences