tie 
notes, by a tie. See tiel, ., 8. 9. To supply 
with ties or sleepers, as the road-bed of a rail- 
way. 
The track was solid, evenly graded, heavily tied, well 
aligned, and the cars ran over it with no more awing and 
bounce than on an old road. Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 506. 
10. To make the same score as ; equal in a 
score or contest: as, A tied B at checkers. 
11. In surg., to secure (a vein or an artery) 
with a ligature, so as to prevent loss of blood in 
case the vessel has been ruptured or severed, 
or to check the flow of blood through it in some 
special circumstances ; ligate Tied at the el- 
bow. See the quotation. 
The Jeet are turned out, and then there is a want of lib- 
erty in the play of the whole shoulder, because the elbow 
rubs against the ribs, and interferes with the action. This 
is called being tied at the elbow, and is most carefully to 
be avoided in selecting the greyhound, as well as all other 
breeds. Dogs of Great Britain and America, p. 45. 
To be tied to a woman's apron-strings. See apron- 
string. To tie any. See/y2._To tie down, (a) To 
fasten so as to prevent from rising. (6) To restrain ; con- 
fine ; hinder from action. 
The mind should, by several rules, be tied down to this, 
at first, uneasy task ; use will give it facility. Locke. 
To tie hand and foot. See to bind hand and foot, under 
hand. To tie neck and heels. See neck. To tie up. 
(a) To bind or fasten securely : as, to tie up a bundle, (o) 
To wrap up ; protect with wrappings. 
Look to your cloaks, and tie up your little throats ; for, I 
tell you, the great baize will soon fall down. 
Thackeray, Philip, xlii. 
(c) To confine ; restrain ; hamper in or hinder from mo- 
tion or action. 
Joy hath tied my tongue up. 
Fletcher (and another), Love's Cure, i. 3. 
(d) To place or invest in such a way as to render unavail- 
able : as, to have one's money tied up in real estate. 
She is close of her money ; . . . she has tied up every 
shilling of it, and only allows me [her husband] half a 
crown a week for pocket-money. 
Thackeray, Great Hoggarty Diamond, xiii. 
(e) To give, devise, or bequeath in such a way and under 
such conditions as to prevent sale, or alienation from the 
person or purpose intended : as, to tie up an estate. To 
tie with St. Mary's knott. see knot' . 
II. intrans. To make a tie with another or 
others in some contest ; score the same num- 
ber of points, runs, or the like To ride and tie. 
See ride. 
tie 1 (ti), n. [Early mod. E. also tye; < ME. teye, 
*tige, < AS. tyge, tiije, a band, rope, a secondary 
form, with mutation, of tedh, teag, a band, rope 
(= D. touw = MLG. touwe, tow, tau, LG. tan (> 
G. tau) = Icel. taug, a rope), < te6n (pret. tedh), 
draw,pull: see tee 1 , 7.,and of. tie 1 , r., also tow? 
(a doublet of tie 1 ). The noun tie 1 is in the later 
senses directly from the verb tie 1 .'] 1. A band; 
rope ; chain ; a cord or other flexible thing used 
to fasten or bind, especially by knotting or 
looping; a fastening: as, cotton-fe (for bind- 
ing bales of cotton) ; specifically, the ribbon or 
similar fastening used for the queue or pigtail, 
whether of the wig or of the natural hair. 
Great formal wigs with a tie behind. 
Dickens, Pickwick, xlix. 
2. A cravat, usually a simple one knotted in 
front; a necktie. 
Both wear the soft black hat so popular with us in the 
West, and the regulation black frock-cut uniform, with 
white tie at the throat. 
T. C. Crawford, English Life, p. 145. 
3. A knot composed of one or two loops of 
cord, ribbon, or the like ; a looped ornamental 
knot ; a bow. 
A very smart tie in his smart cravat. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 283. 
4. Something which binds or unites, in a figu- 
rative sense; a bond; an obligation, moral or 
legal : as, the ties of blood or of friendship. 
Awe and affrights are never ties of love. 
Fletcher (and others), Bloody Brother, iv. 1. 
The bonds of affinity, which are the links and ties of 
nature. Bacon, Political Fables, ii., Expl. 
The secret of the world is the tie between person and 
event. Emerson, Conduct of Life. 
5. In construction, any rod or beam serving to 
counteract a pulling or tensile strain, to hold 
the parts together, to equalize opposing thrusts, 
or to transfer strains from one part of a struc- 
ture to another. It is used, for instance, in bridges, 
to fasten the parts together and resist strains of tension ; 
and in roofs, to take the thrust from a pair of rafters, and, 
by opposing one to the other, to prevent the roof from 
spreading. It is opposed to a strut, or a member serving 
to hold different members of a structure apart. See cuts 
under car-truck, Icing-post, and pilework. 
6. On railroads, one of a series of beams, com- 
monly of wood, laid on a permanent way and 
bedded in the ballast, on which are laid the 
rails to form the track. These ties are some- 
times made of iron or stone, and in a variety 
6332 
of forms. Also called deeper or cross-slee)>rr. 
7. Naut. : (a) That part of the topsail- or top- 
gallant-halyards which is fast to the yard and 
passes through a sheave-hole in the mast or 
through a tie-block at the masthead. (6) A 
mooring-bridle. 8. In musical notation, a curve 
above or below two notes on the same degree 
which are to be performed continuously, as if 
but one; a bind or ligature. The following are 
examples : 
Ties are used especially to connect notes that lie in dif- 
ferent measures, or which it is rhythmically important to 
keep separate to the eye. They are not to be confused 
with slurs. 
9. A state of equality among competing or op- 
posed parties, as when two candidates receive 
an equal number of votes, rival marksmen score 
a like number of points, or two or more racers 
reach the winning-post at the same time, so 
that neither party can be declared victorious ; a 
contest in which two or more competitors are 
equally successful. 
The government count on the seat, though with the new 
registration 'tis nearly a tie. If we had a good candidate 
we could win. Disraeli, Coningsby, viii. 3. 
Rand had one majority on the first ballot, and I counted 
him out. I made it a tie by swallowing one of his ballots. 
The Century, XXXVIII. iO. 
10. A weavers' pattern. 
A weaver's pocket-book of that period . . . was an 
ordinary long-shaped pocket-book, and contained about 
eighty different ties or patterns. 
A. Barlow, Weaving, p. 314. 
11. Same as lace, 2. 12. pi. Low shoes fas- 
tened with lacings Axle-clip tie. See axle-clip. 
Book Of ties. See book. Diagonal tie. See angle-brace 
(a). Family tie. Seefamily. Stay-end tie. Seettau- 
end. To play or shoot Off a tie, to go through a second 
contest or match (the first being indecisive), in order to 
decide who is to be the winner. 
The ties, as you call them, were shot of before two 
o'clock. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, i. 1. 
tie 2 (ti), n. [Also tye ; < ME. tye, teye, < OF. 
tele, taie, toie, tick, < L. theca, ML. teca, techa : 
see ticks.] I. A tick (of a bed). Halliwell. 
2. A feather-bed. Halliwell (spelled tye). 
[Prov. Eng. in both senses.] 
tie-bar (ti'bar), n. A bar which serves as a tie. 
tie-beam (ti'bem), . A horizontal timber con- 
necting two principal rafters, for the purpose 
of preventing the walls from being pushed out 
by the thrust of the roof, or for tying together 
other parts of a structure. When placed above 
the bottom of the rafters it is called a collar- 
beam. See cut under curb-roof. 
tieboy (ti'boi), n. A sled: same as go-devil, 3. 
tie-dogt (ti'dog), n. [< ME. teidogge, tegdoggue; 
< tie* + dog.] A fierce dog which it is neces- 
sary to tie up ; a bandog. 
I know the villain is both rough and grim ; 
But as a tie-dog I will muzzle him. 
Death of R. Earl of Huntingdon (1601). (flares.) 
tiegot, ' [Abbr. of vertigo, as formerly ac- 
cented verti' go.] Vertigo ; dizziness. 
I am shrewdly troubled with a tiego 
Here in my head. 
Fletcher and Maxsinger, Very Woman, iv. 3. 
tieinannite (te'man-It), n. [Named after the 
discoverer, Tiemann.] Native mercuric sele- 
nide, usually occurring massive, of a steel-gray 
color and metallic luster, rarely in crystals re- 
sembling those of sphalerite. 
tie-plate (ti'plat), n. A main carline. 
tier 1 (ti'er), n. [< ttel + -erl.] 1. One who or 
that which ties. 2. A child's apron. Also, er- 
roneously, tire. 
Where well-drilled urchins, each behind his tire, 
Waited in ranks the wished command to fire. 
Lowell, Biglow Papers, 1st ser., Int. 
3. In entom., same as leaf-tier. 
tier 2 (ter), . [Formerly also tire, tyre, also 
teer (orig. pron. ter, then tir, besides ter re- 
tained to accord with the F., and spelled tier 
perhaps in simulation of the form of pier) ; < 
OF. tire, a course, continuance of a course, a 
draught, pull, stroke, hit (= It. tiro, a draught, 
pull, stroke, hit, etc.), < tirer, draw: see tire' 2 . 
Perhaps confused with OF. Here, tieiere, row, 
rank, order, = Pr. tiera, teira, a row (also 
adornment, attire : see tire*). The AS. tier, 
appar. meaning a row or series, occurs but 
once, and is of doubtful status. The words 
spelled tire and tier are much involved as to 
form and senses.] 1. A row; a rank, partic- 
ularly when two or more rows are placed one 
above another: as, a tier of seats in a theater; 
the old three-decked war-ships had three tiers 
tierras 
of guns on each side, the upper, middle, and 
lower tiers. 
The hospital of Saint Helena is a magnificent fabric ; 
the gates are built with a tier of white marble and a tier 
of red alternately, having sheets of lead placed between 
the stones. J'ococke, Description of the East, II. i. 10. 
I at last caught at a boat moored, one of a tier of boats 
at a causeway. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, ii. 13. 
2. In organ-building, same as rank 2 , 1 (c). 
Ground tier. See ground^. Tiers of a cable, the 
layers of fakes or windings of a cable, one resting on an- 
other when coiled. 
tier 2 (ter), v. t. [< tier 2 , .] To pile, build, or 
arrange in tiers. Compare tierer. 
Lightermen shall not be required to deliver or receive 
freight at a distance of over one hundred feet from the 
gangway of their Lighter or Barge, and in no case shall 
they be required to tier or pile their freight on the docks, 
etc. Sew York Produce Exchange Report, 1888-89, p. 301. 
tier 3 t, n. See tire^. 
tierce (ters), . [Also, in some senses, terce; < 
ME. tierce, tyerse, < OF. (and F.), tiers, m. (= 
Sp. Pg. tercia, f., = It. terzo, m.), a third part, 
third, tierce, < tiers, third, < L. tcrtius, third 
(= E. third), < tres = E. three.] 1. A third; a 
third part. 
The latitude ... is sixtie eight degrees and a terce. 
HaMuyt's Voyages, I. 279. 
The way is long, and difficult the road, 
And now the sun to middle-fierce returns. 
Longfellow, tr. of Dante's Inferno, xxxiv. 96. 
2. Same as terce, 4. 
In shorte tyme was grete occisioun, and longe it endured, 
from tierce in to noone, and than sparbled the saisnes and 
turned bakke towarde her chyuachie. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.X ii. 274. 
3. A liquid measure equal to one third of a 
pipe. See pipe 1 , S. Also terce. 4. A cask in- 
termediate in size between a barrel and a hogs- 
head: as, a tierce of sugar; a tierce of rice or of 
salted provisions. 5. In iniisic, same as third, 
(a) The fourth harmonic of any given tone that is, the 
major third above the second octave. (&) In organ-build- 
ing, a mutation-stop giving tones two octaves and a third 
above the normal pitch of the digitals used. 
6. In card-playing, a sequence of three cards. 
7. In fencing, the third of a series of eight 
points and parries, beginning with prime. A 
thrust in tierce is a thrust, with the knuckles upward, at 
the upper breast, which, from the ordinary position of 
engagement, the left of the foils touching, is given after 
passing the foil to the other side of the opponent's wea- 
pon. A parry in tierce guards this blow. It is produced 
by turning the hand knuckles upward and carrying it a 
few inches to the right without lowering hand or point. 
To reign is restless fence, 
Tierce, quart, and trickery. 
Tennyson, Queen Mary, v. 6. 
8. In her., a fesse composed of three triangles, 
usually of three different tinctures : a bearing 
rare in English heraldry Arch of the tierce or 
third point, an arch consisting of two arcs of a circle in- 
tersecting at the top ; a pointed arch. En tierce, in her., 
divided in three : said of the field. Compare def. 8. 
Quart and tierce. See quartz. Tierce bendwlse, in 
her. , a bend composed of tnree triangles, usually of three 
different tinctures : a bearing rare in English heraldry. 
Tierce major in whist, a sequence of ace, king, and 
queen. Tierce point, the vertex of an equilateral tri- 
angle. Also called third point. Gtrilt. 
tierce (ter-sa'), a. [Heraldic F., < tiers, tierce : 
see tierce.] In her., divided into three parts of 
three different tinctures. The field may be so divided 
either f essewise, palewise, or bendwise, which must be ex- 
pressed in the blazon : thus, tierce in bend means divided 
into three compartments bendwise. 
tiercelt, tiercelett, See tercel, tercelet. 
tierceron (ter'se-ron), n. [F. : see tierce.] In 
medieval vaulting, a secondary rib springing 
from an intersection of two other ribs. 
The additional ribs, tiernes, tiercerons, etc., which ap- 
pear in the later forms of vaulting, more especially in 
England, are mere surface ribs having no real function. 
C. H. Moore, Gothic Architecture, p. 18. 
tiercet (ter'- or ter'set), n. [< tierce + -et.] In 
poetry, a triplet; three lines; three lines rim- 
ing. 
tierer (ter'er), . [< tier? + -er 1 .] One who 
arranges or piles something in tiers; specifi- 
cally (naut.), a man stationed in the hold when 
heaving up anchor to stow away the cable as it 
comes m. 
tie-rod (ti'rod), n. 1 . A rod used to bind longi- 
tudinal railway-sleepers to one another : same 
as cross-tie. 2. In arch., bridge-building, etc., 
a rod used to draw and bind together parts of 
a structure ; a binding-rod. Such rods are some- 
times made like long bolts with a head at one end and a 
screw and nut at the other; sometimes they have a screw 
and nut at each end. Quite commonly they are made in 
two parts, each with a head at one end and a screw-thread 
at the other, the threaded ends being united by a turn- 
Imekle for drawing up the rod to the required tension. 
tierras (tyer'as), i/. pi. [Sp., pi. of tierra, earth : 
see terra.] In mining, fine or pulverulent ores 
