English · Idiom Historical

to pull the wires

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To control events, politics, etc., clandestinely from behind the scenes, as the unseen operator manipulates the marion- ettes in a puppet-show.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

kiểm soát sự kiện, chính trị, v.v. một cách bí mật từ phía sau

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “to pull the wires” mean?

To control events, politics, etc., clandestinely from behind the scenes, as the unseen operator manipulates the marion- ettes in a puppet-show.

Is “to pull the wires” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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