lead someone in a string—have complete control over another person:
- It is a sad condition for one who ruled womankind as he, that a woman should lead him in a string.
string someone along —(coll.) deliberately mislead a person into believing or doing smth.:
- He’ll never marry her, he’s just stringing her along!
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase string along with someone—(coll.)
1. accompany a person (especially one with more experience):
- Sally seemed to know where she was going, so I decided to string along with her.
2. maintain a relationship even if without much enthusiasm:
- She had been much younger than the crowd which had grown up with Minnie, but she had strung along with them.