string to one's bow

Definitions

1. A skill, ability or resource.
   idiomatic
2. A lover, paramour or suitor, especially one of many.
   idiomatic

Equivalents

2 more languages

Suomikyky

Polskizdolność

Examples

“McGough has not a string to his bow. He had no friends behind him; that was the trouble⟳.”

“I feel⟳ doing the course would provide⟳ me with another string to my bow, and hopefully alongside the jewellery and card making, I would be able to be a freelance therapist and make⟳ the workload and times workable for me.”

“Knowing how to identify⟳ certain edible mushrooms is not only a pleasure, it's also a great string to your bow when it comes to wild food survival.”

“Massimilla was no coquette. She had no second string to her bow, no secondo, no terzo, no patito.”

“Grisi now had another string to her bow in the form⟳ of the tenor, Mario, who was fast becoming putty in her hands.”

“Miss⟳ Artemesia, believing that she had three strings to her bow, and having mentally arranged her suitors into a sort⟳ of sliding scale, at the top of which was the judge⟳, and at the bottom Phil Blister, was not in a hurry⟳ to make⟳ up her mind⟳ in regard to the latter's proposals.”

CEFR level