string along

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

string along (third-person singular simple present strings along, present participle stringing along, simple past and past participle strung along)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To keep somebody falsely believing that one has certain intentions.

   She's been telling me for ages that she wants to meet up, but won't give me a date. I'm convinced she's stringing me along.

   • 2021 May 5, Philip Haigh, “I think we need better than this from the rail industry”, in RAIL, number 930, page 51:

     What irks is the DfT's response of stringing the industry along. Far better would be for the DfT to say: "No, we are not upgrading this or that part of the railway - we must make the best of what we have."

Translations

to keep somebody falsely believing that one has certain intentions

• German: hinhalten (de) f, falsche Hoffnungen machen

Anagrams

• Garlingtons