sb's hands are tied
If your hands are tied, you are not free to behave in the way that you would like:
I'd like to raise people's salaries but my hands are tied.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Lack of freedom to act
- be in bondage to sth idiom
- be locked in sth
- bondage
- bound
- bound
- hand
- lock
- oppressed
- option
- paralysis
- paralytic
- qualified
- regimented
- tether
- thumb
- tie
- tool
- tyranny
- under sb's thumb idiom
- under the heel of sth/sb idiom
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