strapped for (something)
Having very little of something; deprived of something. Would you mind paying for dinner? I'm a little strapped for cash at the moment. We always get strapped for employees when the college students go back to classes at the end of the summer.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*strapped for something
needing something, usually money. (*Typically: be ~; get ~.) I am really strapped for cash. Can you lend me some? Ted is strapped for money and cannot pay his bills.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
strapped for
In need of, as in We're strapped for cash this week. Originating in the mid-1800s as simply strapped, meaning "in need of money," the term acquired for in the first half of the 1900s. Now the term is also used for other needs, as in I can't give you any more firewood; I'm strapped for it myself.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.