under one's thumb

[under one's thumb] or [under the thumb] {adj.}

or {adv. phr.}

Obedient to you; controlled by you; under your power.

* /The Jones family is under the thumb of the mother./

* /Jack is a bully. He keeps all the younger children under his thumb./

* /The mayor is so popular that he has the whole town under his thumb./

Compare: JUMP THROUGH THE HOOP.

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Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms


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