string along

verb

strung along; stringing along; strings along

transitive verb

1
: to keep waiting
strung him along until the boss was back from lunch
2
: deceive, fool
stringing us along with ruses and red herringsJohn Powers

intransitive verb

: go along, agree
held her tongue and strung along with the rest of them

Examples of string along in a Sentence

the student succeeded in stringing even his teachers along with his tales of family hardships
Recent Examples on the Web That’s when the zoo reopens after its regular 9 a.m.-5 p.m. winter hours and turns on the lights – nearly 1 million bulbs strung along the zoo’s walkways or arranged into electric displays. John Bordsen, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 The inside was mostly lit by white Christmas lights strung along the side walls, illuminating the murals painted by a local artist depicting major events in the town’s history and scenes from the movies. Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee, 30 Jan. 2024 But all of the residents in towns strung along the lake’s southern edge know the resulting ash as black snow. Michael Adno, Rolling Stone, 7 Jan. 2024 In total, the tree features more than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights strung along a whopping 5 miles of wire. Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 29 Nov. 2023 Whether strung along stair rails or draped across a mantle, this garland of gingerbread men and houses brings a fun, on-the-nose element to your seasonal decor. Samantha Booth, Rolling Stone, 21 Nov. 2023 Again Sam, a pulverizing, urgent and deeply rhythmic set of tracks that deploy brass and strings along with a smorgasbord of electronic textures. Max Pilley, SPIN, 18 Oct. 2023 These strands act like long highways stretching between the clusters, with thousands of galaxies strung along them. Popular Mechanics, 6 June 2023 Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 10 Hand-Stitched Card Embellish this printable Mother's Day card by sewing colored string along the dotted lines. Angela Belt, House Beautiful, 21 Apr. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'string along.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of string along was in 1914

Dictionary Entries Near string along

Cite this Entry

“String along.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/string%20along. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

string along

verb
1
: to go along : agree
string along with the majority
2
: deceive sense 1, fool
would string us along with false promises
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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