apron-string hold
English
Pronunciation
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Noun
apron-string hold (plural apron-string holds)
- (idiomatic, obsolete, informal) An estate held by a man during his wife's life.
- 1872, W. O. von Horn, The Rhine: History and Legends of Its Castles, Abbeys, Monasteries, and Towns, J. Niedner, page 270:
- He resided at Staleck and the fief made was converted into an "apron-string hold" and hereditary fief, for the benefit of his wife and daughter; for that in opposition to the Emperor himself, he had remained firm to the Archbishop in a Diet held at Mainz.
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References
- [Francis] Grose [et al.] (1811), “Apron-string hold”, in Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence. […], London: Printed for C. Chappell, […], OCLC 23927885.