English Reference

Idiom

cut the cord

Meaning

To end a child's overdependence on or overattachment to their parents.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Examples

“It is time for him to cut the cord and live alone.”

“After graduating from college, she finally decided to cut the cord and move into her own apartment.”

“Although his parents still offered to pay his rent, he felt it was necessary to cut the cord to truly establish his own independence.”

Examples

simple

“It is time for him to cut the cord and live alone.”

contextual

“After graduating from college, she finally decided to cut the cord and move into her own apartment.”

complex

“Although his parents still offered to pay his rent, he felt it was necessary to cut the cord to truly establish his own independence.”

Origin

The idiom is a variant of the phrase cut the umbilical cord, a surgical necessity adapted as a metaphor for the termination of dependency. No specific date of idiomatic emergence or individual originator is recorded in the source material.

Key words

Related idioms

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English Reference