with strings

with strings

Having one or more special conditions, restrictions, obligations, or arrangements that must be met. Members of the majority party are willing to allow the bill to pass, but with strings. He was willing to give a hefty campaign donation, with strings: that his company's interests be put before others during legislative debates.
See also: string
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

with strings

or

with strings attached

You can say that an offer is with strings or with strings attached if accepting it requires you to do a particular thing or give something in return. We cannot accept donations with strings attached. More often than not, aid comes with strings that bind the recipient to unfair relationships in the international market.
See also: string
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • have strings attached
  • no strings attached
  • with no strings attached
  • without any strings attached
  • with strings attached
  • strings attached
  • have no strings attached
  • no strings
  • make arrangements
  • make arrangements to do
References in periodicals archive
Pakistan is one of Etihad's key markets and we are pleased to help promote and work with Strings as leading celebrities from this region."Faisal Kapadia, lead vocalist of Strings said, "Etihad Airways has emerged as one of the biggest names in the airline industry in such a short span of time.
Etihad Airways signs Strings as Brand Ambassador
The channels are filled with strings of atoms, and a one-dimensional arrangement of the atoms along the strings has a periodicity that differs from the host structure.
One-dimensional "pencil" disorder discovered for a class of intermetallic compounds. (General Developments)
The system, which works equally well with strings of other alloys and composites, employs a proprietary transducer that uses an infrared emitter and an array of photodetectors for each string.
LightWave Systems. (Technology Spotlight)