wind (someone) around (one's) (little) finger

wind (someone) around (one's) (little) finger

To gain complete control, dominance, or mastery over somebody; to make someone do whatever one wishes. The spoiled little brat has completely wound his parents around his little finger. Everyone accused her of winding the boss around her finger.

See also: around, finger, wind

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

twist/wind around one's little finger, to

To exert a strong influence or complete control (on or over someone). This hyperbole dates from the nineteenth century. J. L. Motley used it in Rise of the Dutch Republic (1855): “She had already turned that functionary around her finger.” A more violent twentieth-century locution is to twist someone’s arm, a form of none too gentle persuasion. However, it often is used jocularly, as in, “You twisted my arm,” meaning either “You talked me into it” or “I don’t need to be persuaded to do this; I’d do it anyway.”

See also: around, little, to, twist, wind

wind around one's finger

See twist around one's finger.

See also: around, finger, wind

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer