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What is "to keep a person on a short leash"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
To keep a person on a short leash

Leash \Leash\ (l[=e]sh), n. [OE. lese, lees, leece, OF. lesse, F. laisse, LL. laxa, fr. L. laxus loose. See Lax.]

  1. A thong of leather, or a long cord, by which a person may hold or restrain an animal, such as a falconer holding his hawk, or a courser his dog. For dogs and cats, the leash is commonly attached to a collar around the neck of the animal.

    Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash.
    --Shak.

  2. (Sporting) A brace and a half; a tierce; three; three creatures of any kind, especially greyhounds, foxes, bucks, and hares; hence, the number three in general.

    [I] kept my chamber a leash of days.
    --B. Jonson.

    Then were I wealthier than a leash of kings.
    --Tennyson.

  3. (Weaving) A string with a loop at the end for lifting warp threads, in a loom.

    To keep (a person) on a short leash to maintain close control over the activities of (a person).