tighten
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Synchronically equivalent to tight + -en. From Middle English tighten, from Old English tyhtan, thus originally unrelated to tight (Old English *þiht).
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈtaɪ.tən/, [ˈtʰaɪ̯tn̩], [ˈtʰaɪ̯ʔn̩]
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -aɪtən
- Homophones: titan, Titan
Verb
[edit]tighten (third-person singular simple present tightens, present participle tightening, simple past and past participle tightened)
- (transitive) To make tighter.
- Please tighten that screw a quarter-turn.
- 1760, Francis Fawkes, Works of Anacreon, Sappho, Bion, Moschus, and Musæus translated into English by a gentleman of Cambridge:
- Just where I please, with tighten;d rein / I'll urge thee round the dusty plain.
- (intransitive) To become tighter.
- That joint is tightening as the wood dries.
- (economics) To make money harder to borrow or obtain.
- If the government doesn't tighten the money supply, inflation is certain to be harsh.
- (economics) To raise short-term interest rates.
- The Fed is expected to tighten by a quarter-point.
Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “make tighter”): loosen
Derived terms
[edit]Derived terms
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to make tighter
|
to become tighter
|
to make money harder to obtain
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms suffixed with -en (inchoative)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪtən
- Rhymes:English/aɪtən/2 syllables
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Economics
- English ergative verbs