If you say that someone holds or controls the ~, you mean that they control the way that money is spent in a particular family, group, or country.
Women control the purse-strings of most families...
N-PLURAL: the N
If you say that someone holds or controls the ~, you mean that they control the way that money is spent in a particular family, group, or country.
Women control the purse-strings of most families...
N-PLURAL: the N
Collins COBUILD. Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) . 2012