TIGHTEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tighten mean? 

• TIGHTEN (verb)
  The verb TIGHTEN has 4 senses:

1. make tight or tighter

2. become tight or tighter

3. severely restrict in scope or extent

4. narrow or limit

  Familiarity information: TIGHTEN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TIGHTEN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tighten    ... he / she / it tightens   
Past simple: tightened   
Past participle: tightened   
-ing form: tightening   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make tight or tighter

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

fasten; tighten

Context example:

Tighten the wire

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become tight or tighter

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The rope tightened

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 3

Meaning:

Severely restrict in scope or extent

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

constrain; stiffen; tighten; tighten up

Context example:

stiffen the regulations

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 4

Meaning:

Narrow or limit

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

reduce; tighten

Context example:

reduce the influx of foreigners

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

 Context examples 

A sharp pain that occurs when a muscle suddenly contracts (tightens up).

(Cramp, NCI Dictionary)

Then his finger tightened on the trigger.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yet war and glory, my good friend, though well enough in their way, will not serve to tighten such a belt as clasps my waist.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was to her husband whose hand had, as we could see, tightened upon hers.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The hand at my throat relaxed. I breathed. It fluttered and tightened again.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The tightening of scar tissue that forms around the implant.

(Capsular Contracture, NCI Thesaurus)

My uncle sat with tightened lips and a brooding brow.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A relatively painless, irregular tightening sensation felt by the pregnant mother over the abdomen after the 28th week of pregnancy, that lasts about a minute each time

(False Labor, NCI Thesaurus)

A permanent tightening of the muscles, tendons, skin, and nearby tissues that causes the joints to shorten and become very stiff.

(Contracture, NCI Dictionary)

Normally, these vessels tighten (constrict) to reduce blood flow or relax (dilate) to increase flow.

(Hold the salt: gut reaction may impair the brains of mice, National Institutes of Health)