have a/(one's) finger in every pie

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have a/(one's) finger in every pie

To be involved in several different activities or enterprises at once, especially when maintaining some level of influence over those activities. Monica wouldn't be so busy and stressed if she didn't have a finger in every pie. Paul has his finger in every pie when it comes to local businesses. If you need a deal done around here, he's your man.

See also: every, finger, have, pie

have a finger in every pie

If someone has a finger in every pie, they are involved in many different activities. He has a finger in every pie and is never short of ideas for making the next buck. Note: This expression is very variable. For example, you can say that someone has a finger in a lot of pies or has a finger in many pies or you can use verbs such as keep or stick instead of have. He was an economist called Clarkson who had a finger in a good many pies. Many of them keep fingers in as many pies as possible to spread the risk and distract the taxman. Note: If someone has a finger in the pie, they are involved in the activity you are talking about. Both banks had a finger in the pie. Note: These expressions often show that you disapprove of someone being involved in something. Note: The most likely explanation for this expression is that it refers to someone who is involved in making a pie.

See also: every, finger, have, pie

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

have a finger in every pie

be involved in a large and varied number of activities or enterprises.

See also: every, finger, have, pie

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

have a finger in every ˈpie

(informal) be involved in everything that happens: Jane likes to have a finger in every pie.

See also: every, finger, have, pie

finger in every pie, to have a

To be involved in numerous activities, usually in the sense of meddling. This metaphor from finger-licking in the kitchen dates from the sixteenth century. Shakespeare used it in HenryVIII (1.1), where the Duke of Buckingham complains of Cardinal Wolsey, “No man’s pie is freed from his ambitious finger.”