tighten
/ˈtaɪ.tən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.51 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To make money harder to borrow or obtain.
verb
Example Sentences
- "Please tighten that screw a quarter-turn."
- "Just where I please, with tighten;d rein / I'll urge thee round the dusty plain."
- "That joint is tightening as the wood dries."
- "If the government doesn't tighten the money supply, inflation is certain to be harsh."
- "The Fed is expected to tighten by a quarter-point."
Etymology
Synchronically equivalent to tight + -en, but actually derived from Middle English tighten, from Old English tyhtan, thus originally unrelated to tight (Old English *þiht).