shoe string

Thân thiện

He ties his shoe string before going for a run.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A lace for fastening a shoe: A thin cord or strip of leather, fabric, or other material, threaded through eyelets or hooks to tighten and secure a shoe.
   • A very small or barely adequate amount of money: An extremely limited budget or sum of money, often implying that an activity or operation is managed with frugality and resourcefulness.

Examples

• Noun (Lace):
  • He bent down to tie his shoestring.
  • The leather shoestring broke, and she needed to replace it.
• Noun (Small budget):
  • They started the business on a shoestring.
  • The film was made on a shoestring budget.

Advanced Usage

• "On a shoestring": This is the primary idiomatic usage. It functions as an adverbial phrase meaning "with a very small amount of money."
  • The charity runs entirely on a shoestring.
  • We traveled across Europe on a shoestring.

Variants and Related Words

• Shoestring is the standard closed compound form. The open form "shoe string" is less common.
• Shoestring potatoes (noun): A culinary term for thinly sliced, deep-fried potatoes, resembling thin laces in shape.
• Shoestring catch (noun): In baseball, a catch made very close to the ground.

Synonyms

• For "lace": Lace, bootlace, shoelace.
• For "small budget": Pittance, trifle, minimal funds, tight budget.

Related Idioms

• "To do something on a shoestring": To operate or accomplish something with very little financial resource.
  • The community theater puts on fantastic productions on a shoestring.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a lace used for fastening shoes
2. a small amount of money
   • he managed it on a shoestring

Từ đồng nghĩa

• shoelace
• shoe lace
• shoestring