ties that bind
Bonds keeping together
Ties that bind are connections—family, obligation, shared history—that hold people together whether they wish it or not.
The phrase acknowledges that such bonds can feel like constraints even as they provide belonging: However far he traveled, the ties that bind kept pulling him home.
Often used with awareness of the double meaning in "bind."
- tieEqual score, or neckwear
- connectionA joining or relation
- familyRelated people together
- family treeChart of ancestors
- solidarityUnity among allies
rituals · Sunday dinners · generations · legacy · passing down · oral history · tradition · roots · heritage · shared experience · kinship · storytelling · forgiveness · compassion · covenant · belonging · obligation · unspoken rules
ties that bindstrangers
People unknown to you
fair-weather friends · ships passing in the night · nodding acquaintances · loose connections · weak ties
ties that bindfreedom
Absence of constraint
liberation · independence · autonomy · no strings attached · emancipation
ties that bindestrangement
Emotional separation between people
disconnection · alienation · isolation · detachment · severance
tied, untied, untying, bind, binds, binding, binder, bindings, unbind