Meaning & use
tighten
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To make something firmer, tauter, or more secure by turning or pulling.
Grammar: Can take an object (tighten a screw) or be used without one (the screw tightened). Often followed by 'up' for emphasis.
Patterns
- tighten something
- tighten up something
Please tighten the lid on the jar so it doesn't leak.
He tightened the screws on the chair to stop it wobbling.
The rope tightened as they pulled it.
verbtransitive
To make rules, controls, or budgets stricter or more severe.
Grammar: Takes an object: tighten security. Often used in news about laws or policies.
Patterns
- tighten rules/regulations/security
- tighten up on something
The government decided to tighten the rules on air pollution.
Airlines have tightened security at airports.
The company tightened its budget to save money.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To become tense or to make a muscle or part of the body tense.
Grammar: Can be used with a body part as object (tighten your grip) or without an object (his jaw tightened).
Patterns
- tighten your grip
- tighten your muscles
She tightened her grip on the handle as the bus turned sharply.
His jaw tightened when he heard the bad news.
The muscles in my back tightened after sitting all day.
Word forms
| third person singular | tightens |
|---|---|
| past tense | tightened |
| past participle | tightened |
| -ing form | tightening |
Common combinations
- tighten your grip
- He tightened his grip on the rope to avoid falling.
- tighten security
- The museum tightened security after the theft.
- tighten the rules
- The school tightened the rules on mobile phone use.
- tighten your belt
- With less income, we had to tighten our belts.
- tighten up
- The manager asked us to tighten up our report before sending it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- secure
- Secure means to make something safe or firmly fixed; tighten often means to turn or pull to make it firmer, but secure is more about safety.
- stiffen
- Stiffen means to become less flexible; tighten can also mean to become tense, but stiffen is more about physical rigidity.
Opposites
Word family
- tight adjective
- Firmly fixed or stretched; not loose.
- tightly adverb
- In a firm or secure way.
- tightening noun
- The act of making something tighter or stricter.
Commonly confused: tighten or tidy?
tighten vs tidy
Tidy means neat and organized; tighten means to make firmer or stricter. They sound similar but are different.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
Tighten takes a direct object: tighten the rules. 'Tighten up' is also possible but would be 'tighten up the rules' without 'on'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tighten”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.