Word.ws English Dictionary

have the world on a string

have the world on a string is the alternative form of have the world by the tail.

Meaning of have the world by the tail

Verb

have the world by the tail (third-person singular simple present has the world by the tail, present participle having the world by the tail, simple past and past participle had the world by the tail)

  1. (idiomatic) To possess great influence and opportunity.
    • "Webb thinks he's got the world by the tail for a downhill pull. I'll show him."1919, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 15, in A Man Four-Square

Forms of have the world on a string

third-person singular presenthas the world on a string
present participlehaving the world on a string
past participlehad the world on a string
pasthad the world on a string

Questions about have the world on a string

What is have the world on a string the alternative form of?
Have the world on a string is the alternative form of have the world by the tail.

Words near have the world on a string in the dictionary

  1. have the world by the neck
  2. have the world by the nuts
  3. have the world by the tail
  4. have the world by the tail on a downhill pull
  5. have the world by the testicles
  6. have the world on a string
  7. have tickets on oneself
  8. have time
  9. have time on one's hands
  10. have time on one's side
  11. have to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have the world on a string (page history and authors); have the world by the tail (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.

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Cite this entry: “have the world on a string.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/have_the_world_on_a_string. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.