tie
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Neckwear made up of a long narrow piece of material worn under a collar and tied in knot at the front.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tyIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtaɪ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Neckwear consisting of a long narrow piece of material worn (mostly by men) under a collar and tied in knot at the front
A knot of hair, as at the back of a wig.
A knot; a fastening.
A necktie (item of clothing consisting of a strip of cloth tied around the neck). See also bow tie, black tie.
A twist tie, a piece of wire embedded in paper, strip of plastic with ratchets, or similar object which is wound around something and tightened.
A connection between people or groups of people, especially a strong connection.
verb
transitive
To twist (a string, rope, or the like) around itself securely.
transitive
To form (a knot or the like) in a string or the like.
transitive
To attach or fasten (one thing to another) by string or the like.
Fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord
“They tied their victim to the chair.”
ustransitive
To have the same score or position as (another) in a competition or ordering.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Neckwear consisting of a long narrow piece of material worn (mostly by men) under a collar and tied in knot at the front
Used this way, tie is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- railroad tie , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use tie
- “He needed a tie for the packages.”noun
- “They tied their victim to the chair.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
noun
Sense: neckwear consisting of a long narrow piece of material worn (mostly by men) under a collar and tied in knot at the front
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.