tighten
verb
Simple meaning
To make something tighter, firmer or more controlled, or to become that way.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tytuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtaɪtən
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.
verb
transitive
To make tighter.
economics
To make money harder to borrow or obtain.
intransitive
To become tighter.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
To make sufficiently tight.
Cut down on; make a reduction in.
To cause to take close effect.
To make stiff.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of making something tighter.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Live frugally and use less resources.
Severely restrict in scope or extent.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to make tighter
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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.