Library / English Dictionary

TIGHTEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Narrow or limit

Example:

reduce the influx of foreigners

Synonyms:

reduce; tighten

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "tighten" is one way to...):

bound; confine; limit; restrict; throttle; trammel (place limits on (extent or amount or access))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Severely restrict in scope or extent

Example:

stiffen the regulations

Synonyms:

constrain; stiffen; tighten; tighten up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "tighten" is one way to...):

bound; confine; limit; restrict; throttle; trammel (place limits on (extent or amount or access))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become tight or tighter

Example:

The rope tightened

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "tighten" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tighten"):

constrict; constringe; narrow (become tight or as if tight)

firm; tauten (become taut or tauter)

compact; compress; constrict; contract; press; squeeze (squeeze or press together)

strain; tense (become stretched or tense or taut)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make tight or tighter

Example:

Tighten the wire

Synonyms:

fasten; tighten

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "tighten" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tighten"):

frap (take up the slack of)

firm; tauten (make taut or tauter)

screw (tighten or fasten by means of screwing motions)

wind; wind up (coil the spring of (some mechanical device) by turning a stem)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tightening (the act of making something tighter)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Buck tightened the traces, then slacked them for a matter of several inches.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

He could get little air, and that little grew less and less under the merciless grip that ever tightened.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

It came to her then more bitterly than ever that Beth was slowly drifting away from her, and her arms instinctively tightened their hold upon the dearest treasure she possessed.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And at this there came suddenly a lowering shadow over his face, and he tightened his grasp upon my hand and raised a forefinger threateningly before my eyes.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Two years ago, on December 19, 2017, taskmaster Saturn first entered your second house of earned income and tightened your finances.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A heart disorder in which the pericardial sac becomes thickened and fibrotic, tightening the myocardium and impeding the normal myocardial function.

(Constrictive Pericarditis, NCI Thesaurus)

Symptoms can range from upset stomach and diarrhea, to hives and itching, to tightening of the throat and trouble breathing.

(Peanut Consumption in Infancy Lowers Peanut Allergy, NIH)

As the creature felt me grow limp in his grasp, two white canines gleamed for a moment at each side of the vile mouth, and the grip tightened still more upon my chin, forcing it always upwards and back.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He tested how much of the garden was visible; he examined the floor, the ceiling, and the fireplace; but never once did I see that sudden brightening of his eyes and tightening of his lips which would have told me that he saw some gleam of light in this utter darkness.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I am aware, more aware than Crawford can be, that the man who means to make you love him (you having due notice of his intentions) must have very uphill work, for there are all your early attachments and habits in battle array; and before he can get your heart for his own use he has to unfasten it from all the holds upon things animate and inanimate, which so many years' growth have confirmed, and which are considerably tightened for the moment by the very idea of separation.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)