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tighten

verb
/ˈtaɪ.tən/

Etymology

Synchronically equivalent to tight + -en, but actually derived from Middle English tighten, from Old English tyhtan, thus originally unrelated to tight (Old English *þiht).

  1. inherited from tyhtan
  2. inherited from tighten

Definitions

  1. To make tighter.

    • Please tighten that screw a quarter-turn.
    • Just where I please, with tighten;d rein / I'll urge thee round the dusty plain.

  2. To become tighter.

    • That joint is tightening as the wood dries.

  3. To make money harder to borrow or obtain.

    • If the government doesn't tighten the money supply, inflation is certain to be harsh.
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. To raise short-term interest rates.

      • The Fed is expected to tighten by a quarter-point.

The neighborhood

Derived

belt-tighten, retighten, tighten down, tightener, tighten one's belt, tighten the purse strings, tighten up

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at tighten. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01tighten02borrow03receive04goods05bought06flexure07flexing08tightening

A definitional loop anchored at tighten. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at tighten

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA