Shoestring means a shoelace or, metaphorically, a very small amount of money or insufficient capital, associated with low-cost operations.
Shoestring refers to a shoelace or, metaphorically, a very small amount of money or inadequate capital. The term is linked to poor peddlers who sold shoelaces.
| Word | shoestring |
|---|---|
| Date | June 19, 2007 |
| Type | noun |
| Syllables | SHOO-string |
| Etymology | In earlier times, wandering peddlers offered townspeople a variety of items and trinkets, such as fabrics, embroidery materials, and even patent medicines. Another popular offering from these traveling salespeople was shoelaces. The fact that such vendors neither earned much money nor charged very much for their wares led to the connection of their literal shoestrings with a metaphorical application of "shoestring" to a very small amount of money. It's still not uncommon to hear of a business being operated on a shoestring (even if these days it's less likely that actual shoelaces are involved), but it's also possible to speak of "traveling on a shoestring" and even "gardening on a shoestring." *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. |
| Examples | For the first few years, Jillian and Georgia ran the business on a shoestring. |
| Definition | 1 : shoelace 2 : a small sum of money : capital inadequate or barely adequate to the needs of a transaction |
Tags: wordoftheday::noun
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Latin verb noun succor english sucors meaning june
Previous card: Meaning purview purveu derives past participle statute range
Up to card list: Word of the Day