Forms: 5–6 tyght, 6– Sc. ticht, tycht, 5– tight (also erron. 7–8 tite, tyte). [App. an altered form of THIGHT, with which in its early literal senses it was synonymous. Tonne-tight and tonne-thight occur together in Rolls of Parlt., 1379: see sense 14. The change from thight to tight was perh. due to the influence of native words from the *teuh-, *tauh-, *tuh- verbal system: see TEE v.1, and cf. TAUT a., TIGHT v.1, and ticht pa. pple. of TIE v.]
† 1. Dense, as a wood or thicket; THIGHT 1; superseded by thick (THICK a. 4). Obs. rare–1.
c. 1435. Torr. Portugal, 589. Hys squyer Rod all nyght In a wod, that wase full tyght.
† b. Close or compact in texture or consistency, as a solid body or substance; dense, solid; = THIGHT 3. Obs. rare.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IX. ii. 64. The wyld wolf … Abowt the bowght, plet all of wandis tyght, Bayis and gyrnis.
1677. Grew, Anat. Fruits, v. § 18. The Outer Part … is softer and more succulent; the Inner a tite and strong Membrane.
a. 1728. [implied in TIGHTNESS 1].
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVII. 424/1. Construct a block of as tight wood as possible.
2. Of such close texture or construction as to be impervious to a fluid, etc. a. as the second element in combinations, as water-, wind-, air-, gas-, oil-, light-tight, the first element denoting that which the vessel keeps in or out.
1507. Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 23. Yat they … ye said tenement … shall kepe, repaire and mayntene, wynd tyght, water tyght.
1760. [see AIR-TIGHT].
1831. Gas-tight [see GAS sb. 6].
1896. Pop. Sci. Jrnl., L. 267. The human mind is not built in thought-tight compartments.
1905. Westm. Gaz., 11 March, 14/2. Untoned prints should be kept under close pressure in a light-tight and air-tight box.
b. as simple word.
(See also tight barrel, cask, cooper, etc. in C. 3.)
[1501: see THIGHT 4.]
1661. [see d].
1669. Boyle, Contn. New Exp., I. xxxvii. The Nose of a pair of Bellows that are Tite enough is well stopt.
1749. Berkeley, Word to Wise, Wks. III. 443. A tight house, warm apparel, and wholesome food.
1856. Olmsted, Slave States, 2. I have faith that there is a tight roof above the very much cracked ceiling.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem. (1862), III. 144. A portion of bread was enclosed in a tight case, to prevent loss of water by evaporation.
c. esp. Of a ship: Water-tight; well caulked and pitched; not leaky. Cf. THIGHT 4.
1568. Satir. Poems Reform., xlvi. 4. Quhat pylett takis my schip in chairge, Mon hald hir clynlie, trym, and ticht.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., II. i. 381. Two Galliasses And twelue tite Gallies.
1615. Bp. Hall, Contempl., O. T., XI. iii. As some tight vessel that holds out against wind and water, so did Ruth against all the powers of a mother’s persuasions.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Tite, the Seamen say a Ship is Tight, or Tite, when she is so staunch as to let in but very little Water.
1747. Gentl. Mag., 170. The pitch being put in very hot will … make the ship as tight as a bottle.
a. 1826. A. Cunningham, Wet Sheet & Flowing Sea, ii. The good ship tight and free.
d. transf. and fig. leading to 3.
1661. Feltham, Resolves, II. xxix. 240. They are not tyte enough to trust with a secret.
1730. in J. Copywell, Shrubs Parnassus (1760), 130. Old Chaucer and Drayton I found in good plight, And Shakespear and Spencer appear pretty tight.
17[?]. C. Dibdin, Song, The Island, i. O, ’tis a snug little island! A right little, tight little island!
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, VII. i. ¶ 5. He is a tight vessel, well armed and manned.
1817. Cobbett, Wks., VI. 31. A Sinecure, which you have secured for your Son,… who is (if all remains tight) to enjoy it for his life after your death.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. viii. Mr. Boffin’s notions of a tight will.
3. fig. of a person, expressing somewhat indefinite commendation: Competent, capable, able, skilful; alert, smart; lively, vigorous, stout; also in ironical use: cf. FINE a. 12 c. Obs. exc. dial.
1598. [implied in TIGHTLY 1].
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., IV. iv. 16. Thou fumblest Eros, and my Queenes a Squire More tight at this then thou.
1653. R. Baillie, Dissuas. Vind. (1655), Pref. That reverent, famous, most able, and tight writer.
1735. Bracken, Burdon’s Pocket Farrier, 81, note. The less Physick the better, provided your Judgment’s tite.
1822. Scott, Pirate, xl. He … swore … that if he had a thousand daughters, so tight a lad, and so true a friend, should have the choice of them.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, Tight,… prompt; active; alert. ‘A tight fellow!’
1829. Marryat, F. Mildmay, ii. I’ll pay you off for this, my tight fellow.
1851. Hawthorne, Ho. Sev. Gables, xiii. It will take a tighter workman than I am to keep the spirits out of the seven gables.
1891. Wrench, Winchester Word-bk., Tight, fast, hard. A tight bowler, etc.
4. Neat in appearance; neatly and carefully dressed; trim, tidy, smart; also, Of a neat compact build, well-made, shapely. arch. or dial. Cf. TAUT a. 2 b.
1697. Dampier, Voy. round World (1699), 11. They wear good Cloaths, and take delight to go neat and tight.
1706–7. Farquhar, Beaux’ Strat., I. i. But you look so bright, And are dress’d so tight.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. ii. Though the girl was a tight clever wench, as any was.
1721. Ramsay, Bessy Bell, etc., iii. She blooming, tight, and tall is.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., iii. There thou stand’st in thy velvet waistcoat, as tight a girl as England’s sun shines on.
c. 1830. Mrs. Sherwood, Houlston Tracts, III. No. 81. 2. I was tight and smart in my own person; so that, as the neighbours used to say, every thing looked well upon me.
1886. M. K. Macmillan, Dagonet the Jester, 8. The tightest and cleanliest lads in the village.
b. Of things: Neatly arranged or constructed; tidy, neat, snug, compact. Now dial.
1720. Ramsay, Edinburgh’s Salut., v. Than I, nor Paris, nor Madrid, Nor Rome, I trow’s mair able To busk you up a better bed, Or trim a tighter table.
1725. T. Thomas, in Portland Papers VI. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), 126. Improved grounds … with tight, low, new farm houses.
c. 1813. Mrs. Sherwood, Stories Ch. Catech., xvi. 139. Sarah was contented with the coarsest gown … if it were but clean and tight.
1831. J. Ogilvie, in Aberdeen Mag., Dec., 638. His wordy wife … Hauds a’ thing tight about the house.
5. Firmly fixed or bound in its place; strongly attached or secured; not easily moved; also fig. faithful, steadfast, constant.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, III. viii. 52. Our fallowis fangis in thair salis tycht [Vela legunt socii].
1687. A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 23. To gird it about with great bars of Iron to keep it tight, and hinder it from falling.
1690. C. Nesse, O. & N. Test., I. 153. His faith … kept him all along tight, steady and constant.
1715. Desaguliers, Fires Impr., 129. You may fix it without any trouble, and be sure that it is tight.
1902. Mabel Barnes-Grundy, Thames Camp, 202. I pulled and strained, but it was as tight as wax.
6. Drawn or stretched so as to be tense; not loose or slack: said of a rope, etc., or of a surface; = TAUT a. 1, 2.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 256. (Like vnto a bowe) sometimes bent very tight, and sometimes againe made slack for the nones.
1589. Peele, Tale Troy, 256. Away they flye, their tackling teft [ed. 1604 toft] and tight.
1703. Dampier, Voy., III. 19. When the Rope is hal’d tight.
1800. Coleridge, Christabel, II. 49. That (so it seem’d) her girded vests Grew tight beneath her heaving breasts.
1846. Brittan, trans. Malgaigne’s Man. Oper. Surg., 39. The knots ought to be tight enough to hold in apposition the edges of the wound; but not so tight as to cut the skin when the inflammation comes on, and the parts swell.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. iv. Tom has eaten … and imbibed coffee, till his little skin is as tight as a drum.
1885. Law Rep., 15 Q. B. Div. 360. The belt … was passed over the drums … and drawn tight.
b. fig. Strict, stringent; severe.
1872. Bagehot, Physics & Pol. (1876), 37. The efficacy of the tight early polity and the strict early law.
1884. Storrs, Div. Orig. Chr., v. 152. The larger moral power won by woman, by degrees made the tightest legal restrictions loose and elastic.
1887. Poor Nellie (1888), 294. Every boy wants a good tight hand over him.
7. Drunk; tipsy. Cf. SCREWED ppl. a. 6. slang.
1853. Household Words, 24 Sept., 75/2. For the one word drunk, besides the authorised synonyms tipsy, inebriated, intoxicated, I find of unauthorised or slang equivalents … thirty-two, viz.: in liquor,… half-seas-over, far-gone, tight [etc.].
1860. Lever, One of Them, II. 151 (Flügel). He was very ‘tight,’ as we call it … far gone in liquor, I mean. Ibid. (1868), Bramleighs, xxiv. II. 46. ‘No, sir, not a bit tipsy,’ said Harding, interpreting his glance; ‘not even what Mr. Cutbill calls “tight”!’
1882. Sala, Amer. Revis. (1885), 269. By the time they reached their hotel [they] were quite ‘tight.’
1911. [J. C. Lewis], Black Beaver, 13. Here I parted company with Whitecup after getting him roaring full hoping he would squeal what bait he used—but he was tight as a tick and mum as a toad.
1923. John Dos Passos, Streets of Night, v. 151. Gosh, I’m tight as a tick… Come into the library and have a cocktail… I got to have a lil’ sip to sober me.
8. Of a garment, etc.: Fitting closely, tight-fitting; often = too tight, closely fitting because not large enough. A tight fit, a garment, etc., that fits tightly; hence transf. (colloq.).
1779. Cook, Voy. Pacific, VI. vii. (1784), III. 377. A pair of tight trowsers, or long breeches, of leather.
1831. Examiner, 11/2. It’s rather a tight fit.
1840. Dickens, Barn. Rudge, vi. A very particular gentleman with exceedingly tight boots on.
1867. Trollope, Chron. Barset, xxxv. A wedding-ring growing always tighter as I grow fatter and older.
1872. Punch, 15 June, 250/2. A tight uniform is so bad a thing for the soldier.
9. Difficult to deal with or manage; hard, severe, ‘tough,’ ‘stiff’; esp. in phr. a tight place, corner, squeeze, etc., a position of difficulty. colloq.
1764. Foote, Mayor of G., II. Wks. 1799, I. 180. Is Lady Barbara’s work pretty tight?
1772. Nugent, trans. Hist. Fr. Gerund, I. 10. This question of yours is a tight one.
1852. Townshend (of Ohio), in House Repr., 23 June (Thornton). I felt myself in a tight spot.
1855. Haliburton, Nat. & Hum. Nat., xvi. II. 121. It’s a tight squeeze sometimes to scrouge between a lie and a truth in business.
1864. Daily Tel., 26 Sept. When they find they are getting into a tight place—to borrow an Americanism—[they] gather up their gold, and run off.
1889. Gretton, Memory’s Harkback, 80. We were subjected to a very tight examination; for the prize was one of considerable value.
1891. Daily News, 14 Nov., 2/3. [It] would suffice to drive the Bears of Russian stock into a tight corner.
10. colloq. or techn. a. Said of a contest in which the combatants are evenly matched; close; so of a bargain: with little margin of profit. orig. U.S.
1828. Webster, s.v., A tight bargain.
1848. Bartlett, Dict. Amer., Tight match, a close or even match, as of two persons wrestling or running together.
1903. Westm. Gaz., 1 Sept., 3/1. The tighter the match the better he plays.
b. Of a person: Unwilling to part with money, close-fisted; c. Finance, of money: Difficult to obtain except on high terms; also transf. of the money-market when money is scarce.
1828. Webster, s.v., A man tight in his dealings.
1846–7. Mrs. Whitcher, Widow Bedott Papers, 30 (Bartlett). The Deacon was as tight as the skin on his back; begrudged folk their victuals when they came to his house.
1846. Daily News, 21 Jan., 4/6. In Paris money is ‘tight’ also, and discounts difficult.
1866. Crump, Banking, vii. 152. A tight money market will force sales, and make purchasers … reluctant to buy.
1868. Lever, Bramleighs, xvi. I. 219. Money was ‘tight’ being the text of all he said.
11. a. Closely packed. Cf. TIGHTEN v. 1 b.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xxiv. 313. For thirty-five miles south the straits are absolutely tight [i.e., with ice].
b. Of language: Terse, concise, condensed.
1870. Swinburne, Ess. & Stud. (1875), 85. The highest form of ballad … must condense the large loose fluency of romantic tale-telling into tight and intense brevity.
c. Art slang. Lacking freedom or breadth of treatment; cramped.
1891. Spielman, in Contemp. Rev., July, 60. It [Tenniel’s art in 1850] is certainly ‘tighter’: it is younger.
1902. Encycl. Brit., XXVII. 252/1. In his first style [Corot] painted traditionally and ‘tight’—that is to say, with minute exactness, clear outlines, and with absolute definition of objects throughout.
1905. Q. Rev., July, 234. His style, if a little what artists call ‘tight,’ has the rare gift of being entirely lucid in the expression of subtleties.
d. Of the edge of a saw: Compressed by hammering (Cent. Dict., 1891).
12. Billiards. slang. (a) Said of balls when they are in contact: ‘fast,’ ‘frozen.’ (b) Of pockets: Having a small opening compared with the diameter of the balls.
1909. in Cent. Dict. Supp.
13. The adjective used absolutely. (See also TIGHTS.) Rugby Football = SCRIMMAGE sb. 4. rare.
1904. Westm. Gaz., 19 Nov., 15/1. The forwards are strong and hard workers in the tight, but in the loose are slow and cumbersome…. Both in the tight and loose they must remember to watch and follow the ball.
1905. Daily Chron., 1 Nov., 9/5. They have shown little dash in the open and no skill in the tight.
† 14. Formerly (14th–17th c.) appended to ton, pipe, hogshead, dolium, as measures of capacity, originally and especially in stating the number of tons burden (i.e., the tonnage) of a ship; also as an equivalent weight of stones, gravel, salt, etc. See also TON, TONNAGE, TUN.
[1894. C. N. Robinson, Brit. Fleet, 217. The unit of ship measurement, both in England and on the continent, at the time [of Henry VII.], was, as heretofore, the tun cask of wine, and the stated tons or tuns burthen of a ship meant the number of tuns or butts of wine she could carry. Warships’ tonnage was estimated by roughly comparing their bulk with merchant ships of known carrying capacity.]
1379. Rolls of Parlt., III. 63/2. Pur prendre de chescun nief & craier, de quele portage q’il soit, qe passe par la mier dedeinz le dite Admiralte alant & retournant, par le voiage de chescun tonne-tight vj d. … Item, de prendre de chescun vesseau pessoner, qe pessent sur la mier du dit Admiralte entour Harang, de quele portage q’il soit, en un simaigne de chescun tonne-tight, VI d. … en troiz simaignes de chescun tonne-thight, VI d.
1410. in Proc. Privy Council (1834), I. 327. La somme des gages & regardz des gens darmes archers conestables & marins deinz especifiez, ovesque le tonnetyght samontent par un qart … viijml ccxlj. li. xviij. s. vjd.
1427–9. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 365/1. To have Lettres Patentz … for to take and resceyve of every Vessell ladon of … C tonnetite VIII d, and of every Vessell of lesse tite IIII d. Ibid. [French version]. P[re]ndre & avoir de chacun Nief del portage de … C tonelx … VIII d., & de chacun autre Vessell de meyndre portage … IIII d.
1428–9. Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 70. For a tonne tyght of northerin ston for þe new chirche porche … vijs viijd.
a. 1483. Liber Niger, in Househ. Ord. (1790), 74. The kinge hathe it intytled by his prerogative to have of every shippe from xx doll tyght before the mast & behynd to have ii doll wyne; and soe of every shippe tyll he come to the tyght of ccc doll; then the kinge hath before and behynd of every such shippe iiii doll wyne.
1495. Naval Accts. Hen. VII. (1896), 154. Payed … for cccclxviij ton tyght of … Stones vijli. xvjs. As for ciiijxxxvj ton tyght of gravell xxiiijs. vjd. Ibid. (1497), 186. For the hyre of hys bote conteynyng vij Tonne Tight. Ibid., 228. A pipe Tyghte yron price xls. & … for a hoggeshed Tyghte yron price—xxs.
a. 1500. in Arnolde, Chron. (1811), 127. A crane sufficient and able to take vp from the water of the Thamis the weight of a tonne tight.
1504. Sel. Cas. Crt. Star Chamber (Selden), 212. Of & for eny ton or ton tyght of marchaundis conteigned in the same vesselles … vj d.
1603. Owen, Pembrokeshire (1892), 139. In bargayninge by the toone yt requireth that yt be expressed what nomber of barrells the toonne shalbe of, ffor of late yeares … toonne tight, whch comonly is vsed in bargaynes of freight, differreth from the toonne by measure both of corne and salte.
B. adv. (The adj. used adverbially.)
1. Soundly, roundly; = TIGHTLY 1. Now dial. and U.S.
1790. J. Fisher, Poems, 61. I charg’d them tight, An’ gart them pay o’ lawing clink, Mair than was right.
1898. Elizabeth & German Garden, 29. She had been so tight asleep.
2. Firmly, closely, securely; so as not to allow any movement: = TIGHTLY 3.
1680. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., xii. 208. You may without more ado screw up your Work tight.
1768. Tucker, Lt. Nat. (1834), I. 194. The prospect of getting a livelihood holds them tight to their work.
1838. Dickens, Nich. Nick., liii. Holding tight on with both hands.
1878. T. L. Cuyler, Pointed Papers, 206. The tighter I clung the safer I felt.
b. To sit tight, † to apply oneself closely to (obs.); to maintain one’s position firmly in reference to something; also, to sit close, to remain under cover. colloq.
1738. Lond. Mag., 131. Andromache and all the great Ladies 3000 Years ago, sat very tight to their Stitching.
1855. Essex County Standard, 26 Sept., 2/3. To make a Government merely requires no large amount of prudence; to occupy the post of Prime Minister is still more easy: it is not necessary to guide, it only requires to let go the reins, and then sit tight on the box.
1897. Violet Hunt, Unkist, Unkind, xiv. ‘Sit tight!’ she exclaimed, pinching my arm violently. She always talks slang when she is excited.
1898. Daily News, 10 Feb., 3/2. No money is forthcoming, and banks sit tight.
1909. Athenæum, 20 March, 345/3. Is not ‘Sit tight’ the watchword of constitutionalism?
3. With close constriction or pressure; closely, tensely; = TIGHTLY 2.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, xxxii. A horse-girth buckled tight behind him.
1853. Landor, Imag. Conv., Hart & L., Wks. 1891, IV. 423. He whose dress sits tight upon him.
C. Combinations.
1. Adjectival, as tight-belted (having a tight belt), -bodied, -booted, -hosed, -limbed, -lipped, -skinned, -skirted, -sleeved, -waisted adjs. (Sometimes not clearly distinguishable from next.)
1767. S. Paterson, Another Trav., I. 315. Their habit is entirely white … and being tight-bodied, gives them the appearance of a company of millers in their holiday-cloaths.
1836. T. Hook, G. Gurney, v. Perhaps a tight-skinned sailor walking his way to town from Portsmouth.
1859. G. Meredith, R. Feverel, ii. The boy was … not so tight-limbed and well-set.
1876. Miss Braddon, J. Haggard’s Dau., II. 47. How would that tight-waisted, tight-lipped damsel get on with a lovely young wife.
1896. Howells, Impressions & Exp., 73. She wore a tight-skirted black walking-dress.
1896. Edith Thompson, in Monthly Packet, Christmas No. 80. Tight-booted and tight-belted in correct Continental military style.
2. Adverbial, as tight-bound (= tightly bound), -closed, -draped, -drawn, -fitting, -looking, -made, -packed, -pressed, -rooted, -shut, -stretched adjs.; tight-reining sb.; tight-clasp, -tie verbs. See also TIGHT-LACED, etc.
1801. Mar. Edgeworth, Angelina, ii. She was hospitably received by a tight-looking woman.
1819. Keats, Ode Melancholy, i. Go not to Lethe, neither twist Wolf’s bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine.
1832. Scoreby Farm Rep., 8, in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb., III. A large and tight-bound sheaf will require to stand two days longer than a small one.
1844. Dickens, Mart. Chuz., v. I did not think you were half such a tight-made fellow!
1860. Reade, Cloister & H. (1861), I. 20. Clad in a pair of tight-fitting buckskin hose.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., IV. vii. With the palms of his hands tight-clasping his hot temples.
1879. Browning, Ivan Ivanovitch, 166. I’ll … tight-tie you with the strings Here of my heart!
1884. Yates, Recoll., ii. (Tauchn.), 80. After tight-reining and regular hours.
1896. A. Palmer, in Academy, 25 Jan., 80/3. It is strange how the tight-stretched tambourine can be called molle.
1905. Daily Chron., 21 Oct., 5/2. Strong men stood with tight-drawn lips.
3. Special combs.: tight barrel or cask, a barrel for liquids; also called wet barrel or cask; cf. SLACK a. 1 c; so tight cooper (see quot.); tight-corking (Angling), a method of float-fishing in which the line (with the float or cork) is kept taut between the point of the rod and the plummet at the bottom; tight-fisted a., parsimonious, close-fisted; tight-jeff: see JEFF; tight-lock dial. (see quot.); tight shop, a cooperage where tight work is done; tight work (see quot.).
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl., Slack Barrel, one for flour, sugar, cement, fruit, and what not, of a dry character. In contradistinction to *tight barrel.
1759. Ellis, in Phil. Trans., LI. 209. This was put into a *tight cask.
1877. Encycl. Brit., VI. 338. Tight or wet and dry or slack cask manufacture.
1889. Cent. Dict., s.v. Cooper, Wet or *tight cooper, a cooper who makes casks for liquids.
1867. F. Francis, Angling, i. (1880), 59. *Tight-corking is using a heavyish float well shotted and plumbed some two feet two deep.
1844. Dickens, Christmas Carol, i. He was a *tight-fisted hand at the grindstone.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, *Tight-lock, any species of coarse sedge growing in marsh ditches. So called, from its being used to bind the sheaves of beans or oats, growing very luxuriantly on such land.
1892. Labour Commission Gloss., *Tight Shops, workshops in which tight work is performed. Ibid., s.v. Work, *Tight work is a term used in the coopering industry to denote the making of casks or any vessels to hold water or liquids.
