give someone enough rope
give someone enough rope verb: to allow one to function unhindered, or without further overbearing oversight.
Verb
give someone enough rope (third-person singular simple present gives someone enough rope, present participle giving someone enough rope, simple past gave someone enough rope, past participle given someone enough rope)
- To allow one to function unhindered, or without further overbearing oversight.
- Near-synonym: cut someone some slack
- Synonyms:
- cut someone some slack
- To allow an enemy to function unhindered in the belief that they will end up harming or discrediting themself.
Synonyms of give someone enough rope
Forms of give someone enough rope
| third-person singular present | gives someone enough rope |
|---|---|
| present participle | giving someone enough rope |
| past | gave someone enough rope |
| past participle | given someone enough rope |
Words formed from give someone enough rope
Questions about give someone enough rope
- What does give someone enough rope mean?
- Give someone enough rope means to allow one to function unhindered, or without further overbearing oversight.
- What part of speech is give someone enough rope?
- Give someone enough rope is a verb.
- What is the past tense of give someone enough rope?
- The past tense of give someone enough rope is gave someone enough rope.
Words near give someone enough rope in the dictionary
- give someone an inch and he'll take a yard
- give someone an inch and someone will take a mile
- give someone ass cancer
- give someone beans
- give someone butt cancer
- give someone enough rope
- give someone enough rope and they'll hang themself
- give someone five
- give someone goss
- give someone gray hair
- give someone grey hair
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: give someone enough rope (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-give one enough rope.ogg.
Cite this entry: “give someone enough rope.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/give_someone_enough_rope. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.