tight
part of speech
adjective (tight, tighter, tightest); adverb (tight, tightly); verb tighten
meaning for a pupil
1) Tight means fitting very closely, with little space: tight shoes, a tight lid. tree →
2) Tight means pulled or stretched firmly: a tight rope. tree →
3) Tight means held strongly: hold on tight. tree →
4) Tight can mean with very little time or money to spare: a tight schedule. tree →
5) A tight game is very close, with nobody far ahead. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life «tight» describes clothes that are too small, lids that won't open, knots and seat belts. In safety lessons: hold on tight on a swing or bus; a helmet must fit snugly; but a cord or scarf tight around the neck is dangerous. In science a tight knot or tight lid keeps things sealed. Phrases: hold tight, sleep tight, a tight fit, tight-lipped, airtight, watertight.
examples
- Their gross heart they have shut tight, with their mouth they speak proudly. (Writings PSA.17.10, JPS 1917) tree →
- These shoes are too tight; my toes hurt. tree →
- Hold on tight to the rope! tree →
- I can't open this jar; the lid is too tight. tree →
- Pull the knot tight so the boat doesn't float away. tree →
- Good night, sleep tight! tree →
- The match was tight until the very last minute. tree →
- Screw the cap on tightly so the juice doesn't leak. tree →
- We have a tight budget, so we can't buy everything. tree →
- So Ib held the nut very tight. tree →
note
Comparison: tighter, tightest. After «hold», «sleep», «shut», use «tight» (hold tight); before a verb, use «tightly» (tightly closed). Opposite: loose (not «lose», which means to stop having something). Airtight = no air gets in; watertight = no water gets in.
In the corpora
- Their gross heart they have shut tight, with their mouth they speak proudly.
- "Money's tight" means little is left after the bills for extras; it does not mean the family is in danger.
- Tablets, less salt and more exercise can lower high blood pressure, and measuring it only feels like a tight squeeze.
- Money worries often show in the voice; most families have tight months, and fixing them is not a child's job.
- When a perching bird bends its legs, tendons pull its toes tight round the branch, so it can sleep without falling off.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tight» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.