as in dime
a very small sum of money
trying to start a business on a shoestring
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in spindly
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shoestring
Will Porter, Architectural Digest, 5 Feb. 2025
The shoestring budget worried investors that U.S. companies would pull back their AI spending, which would hurt numerous companies producing elements from chips to energy, that power AI.
—Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2025
Jennifer Epstein, Bloomberg.com, 7 May 2020
In Greater Cincinnati, a mighty, mostly volunteer needle-exchange effort on a shoestring budget started in 2014.
—Terry Demio, USA TODAY, 15 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for shoestring
Noun
This one easily fits in a shoestring budget and boasts some great mid-century looks, a nice combination for outfitting your home without breaking the bank.
—Will Porter, Architectural Digest, 5 Feb. 2025
The shoestring budget worried investors that U.S. companies would pull back their AI spending, which would hurt numerous companies producing elements from chips to energy, that power AI.
—Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2025
Adjective
In 2016, the Trump campaign relied on stadium rallies, TV appearances and social media to compensate for its shoestring budget and thin staffing.
—Jennifer Epstein, Bloomberg.com, 7 May 2020
In Greater Cincinnati, a mighty, mostly volunteer needle-exchange effort on a shoestring budget started in 2014.
—Terry Demio, USA TODAY, 15 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for shoestring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoestring
Noun
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After surviving the shipwreck, Pi’s joy, humor and despair turn on a dime as his lifeboat is beset by surviving animals — a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan named Orange Juice, and our Royal Bengal tiger.—
John Wenzel,
The Denver Post,
20 Mar. 2025
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In his 30 healthy regular season games, Ivey also logged a career-best 4.1 boards a night, along with 4.0 dimes and 0.9 steals per bout.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
Newsweek,
13 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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That’s because the twisty, spindly room centerpiece with large, pointy, deep green leaves is no ordinary tree.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Mar. 2025
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In a black-and-white photo that serves as Cyrus’ new profile picture on Instagram, the backlit singer poses in a spindly, avant-garde headpiece while staring directly at the camera — though her face is entirely blacked out by the high contrast of the artwork.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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After all, full and healthy hair ends (at any length) look far better than long, stringy, split strands.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
25 Mar. 2025
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White-rot fungi release aggressive enzymes that bust apart lignin to get at the other bits, leaving behind white, stringy wood that’s mostly cellulose.—
Katarina Zimmer,
Smithsonian Magazine,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Working out must be tricky for someone with CIPA, and Quaid has a tall, lanky quality that suggests a smiley scarecrow — but what a smile, combining the best of parents Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid!—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
8 Mar. 2025
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Much credit should go to the lanky redhead, who navigated the tricky tone of the post-wildfire Oscars as nimbly as any host of the 21st century could have.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
8 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Only two bodies remain still: Ferran’s, in one corner of the platform, and that of a young man (Jabez Sykes) diagonally across from her, tall and willowy and pale — two statues that seem moonlit while the rest of the world writhes and sweats around them.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2025
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Michelle Troconis, the 49-year-old Venezuelan socialite who was convicted on Friday for conspiracy to commit murder, is tall, willowy, and as beautiful as a newscaster.—
Rich Cohen,
airmail.news,
2 Mar. 2024
Adjective
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In 2016, after a reedy Canadian professor named Jordan Peterson refused to use gender-neutral pronouns, he was taken up as a folk hero, like Galileo standing firm against the Inquisition.—
Andrew Marantz,
The New Yorker,
17 Mar. 2025
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The reedy, tree-like grass is a panda’s primary food source, especially the shoots.—
Monica Cull,
Discover Magazine,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In tight games like this, that skill is invaluable, as Southgate often found over the years.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
The Athletic,
22 Mar. 2025
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In the hands of a demonstrator familiar with this track’s tight corners, the car is capable of nausea-inducing changes of direction thanks to its ability to pull 1G laterally.—
James Morris,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The rangy second-year is unassumingly fifth in defensive win shares this season.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
The Athletic,
25 Feb. 2025
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The Celtics picked their spots against the impossibly rangy Wembanyama, who entered Wednesday with 75 more blocks than any other NBA player (and got another one early on an Al Horford layup attempt).—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
13 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shoestring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoestring. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
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