tight 
parted or put together as to be Impermeable or Impervious 
to air, gas, rain, water, etc. : as, a water-(i'</M lank ; an air- 
ti : ilii vrsM-1. (ft) Mam h ; strong ; llnnly built or made. 
"I'is known my father lialli no less 
'llian I lii -el- gi eat argosies ; besides two galllasei, 
And twelve tight galleys. Shall., T. of the H., 11. 1. 381. 
SomefiV/A/ vessel that holds out against wind and water. 
ll/i. Hull, Naomi and Ruth. 
llencp 2. Trim; tidy; neat. 
How the tiyht lass knives, comlis, and scissors spies, 
And looks on thimbles with desiring eyes. 
Gay, Shepherd's Week, Saturday, L 77. 
O, 'tis a snug little Island ! 
A light little, tiffht little island ' 
IHbdin, The snug Little Island. 
A ti:iht, likely wench she was, too. 
//. II. stouv, I'ncle Tom's Cabin, viii. 
3. Expert; handy; skilful; adroit; capable. 
My queen 's a squire 
More tiyht at this than thou. 
Shall., A. and ('., Iv. 4. 15. 
And so the house is haunted, is It? It will UkcaMMUer 
workman than I am to keep the spirits out of the seven 
gable. llairthornc, Seven (tables, xlll. 
4. Close ; firm : as, a tight grasp ; a light knot. 
5. Close-fitting; especially, fitting too closely 
because too small, narrow, or the like: as, a 
tight shoe; a tight coat. 
A man will always be more looked at whose dress flut- 
ters in tin' air than he whose dress sits tight upon him. 
Landor, Imag. Conv., Archdeacon Hare and Walter 
[Landor. 
A wedding-ring growing always tighter as I grow latter 
and older. Trollope, Last Chronicle of Barset, xxxv. 
6. Close-fisted ; narrow ; niggardly ; parsimo- 
nious : as, a man tight in his dealings. [Colloq.] 
7. Tense; taut; strained or stretched so as 
to leave no slack: as, a tight rope. 
Nor would he loose the reins, nor could he hold 'em tight. 
Addimn. tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., It. 
Tom has eaten kidney and pigeon pie, and Imbibed cof- 
fee, till his little skin is as t: : ,l,i as a drum. 
T. Uughet, Tom Brown at Rugby, I. 4. 
8. Produced by or requiring great straining or 
exertion; severe: as, to get through by a tight 
pull; specifically, in med., noting a cough ac- 
companied with a painful sense of constriction, 
and without expectoration ; racking; hacking. 
[Colloq.] 9. Scarce; not easily obtained or 
obtainable, because held firmly or tied up in 
some way: applied to money; hence, straitened 
for want of money: as, a tight money-market. 
[Commercial slang.] 
A few curt sentences . . . told how matters stood in 
the City; money was tight; . . . hut of that financial 
sensitiveness that shrinks timidly from all enterprise af- 
ter a period of crash and bankruptcy CuldufT could make 
nothing. Lever, Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly, I. xxl. 
I've known the City now for more than ten years. Mr. 
Crosbie, and I never knew money to be- so tight as it is at 
this moment. Trollope, Last Chronicle of Barset, xlll. 
10. Under the influence of strong drink; in- 
toxicated; tipsy; "full." [Slang.] 
No, sir, not a bit tipsy ; . . . not even what Mr. Cutbill 
calls tight. Lener, Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly, I. xxiv. 
How she cried out half her sight. 
When you staggered by next night, 
Twice as dirty as a serpent, and a hundred times as ti'.iht. 
W. Carletm, Johnny Rich. 
11. Noting the condition of the cutting edge 
of a saw as condensed by hammering. Also 
*//._ In a tight box. See boxi.- Tight cooper. 
Sec cooper. Tight rope, a tensely stretched rope on 
which an acrobat performs dexterous feats at a greater or 
less height from the ground. 
A damned uneven floor, . . . where a gentleman may 
break his neck, if he does not walk as upright as a posture- 
master on the tight-rope. Scott, Kenilworth, xxxlli. 
tight 1 (tit), v. t. [< ME. tighten = Sw. tata = 
Dan. toette, make tight; from the adj.] To make 
tight ; tighten. [Obsolete or colloq.] 
tight- (tit), adr. See tite*. 
tight :! t. An old preterit of /iV 1 . 
tighten (ti'tn), p. [< ME.'tightnen (= Sw. tat- 
tin); nstighfi + -i(l.] I. trans. Tomake tight; 
draw tighter; straiten; make more close in any 
manner; constrict. 
The bowstring encircled my neck. All was ready ; they 
waited the last signal to tighten the fatal cord. 
Marryat, Pacha of Many Tales, Story of Old Woman. 
[(Latham.) 
II. intrant:. To become tight; be drawn 
tighter. 
Her fingers tightened round his own, 
And a sound like a tender moan 
Parted her lips. 
William Marti*, Earthly Paradise, II. Ill 
tightener (tit'ner). . [Also lightner ; < lii/hten 
+ -iT 1 .] 1. One who or that which tightens, or 
that which is used for tightening; specifically, 
in mint., a tensor. 
6335 
This wheel . . . wa driven by a four-Inch belt, a 
n il'i, i,er pulley being so used as to prevent all slip and to 
maintain the maximum ^p.-i .1 
Jour. FranUin Init., CXXIX. 201. 
2. A hearty meal. [Slang.] 
Atone house, know^i as "Rodway's Coffee-house," a man 
ran have a lu.-al f"i !/. -It mug of hot coffee and two 
slices of bread and butter, while for two-pence what is 
elegantly termed a tightener that is to say, a moat plen- 
tiful repast may !>< "Maim <l. 
Maykew, London Labour and London Poor, I. 70. 
tightening-pulley (tit'ning-pul'i), . A pul- 
ley which rests against a band to tighten it, 
and thus increase its frictional adhesion to the 
working pulleys over which it runs. K. II. 
Knight. See cut under iilli-irluel. 
tighter (ti't6r), u. [< </*fi + ->.] Same as 
lii/liteiiri: [Obsolete or colloq.] 
Julius ('mar and Pompey were boat-wrlghU and tighten 
of ships. 1'n/uhart, tr. of Rabelais, li. so. (Dame*.; 
tightly 1 (tit'li), nrfr. [< tigliti + -Jy2.] In 
a tight manner; closely; firmly; compactly; 
neatly; well. 
When we have cozened 'em most tightly, thou shalt steal 
away the innkeeper's daughter. 
Fletcher (and another). Fair Maid of the Inn, IL i 
The Maruuls of Salisbury came down buttoned up tight 
ly in a black frock coat, carrying a light gray overcoat over 
his arm. T. C. Crawford, English Life, p. 120. 
tightly^, adv. See titHy. 
tightner (tit'ner), 11. Same as tightener. 
tightness (tit'nes), H. The character or qual- 
ity of being tight, in any sense of that word, 
tights (tits), n. ill. Garments clinging closely 
to the legs, or to the whole form, and intended 
either to display the form or to facilitate move- 
ment, or both, as in the case of dancers, acro- 
bats, or gymnasts. 
A fat man In black light*, and cloudy Berlins. 
Dicteni, Sketches, '1'al. -, iv. 
And I shall be In tights, and dance a breakdown. 
W. Black, In Silk Attire, xxxvi. 
tigress (ti'gres), w. [< F. tigresse; as tiger + 
-em,} A female tiger. 
tigretier(tS-gre-tia'), n. [F.] In Abyssinia, a 
disease resembling the dancing mania. 
Tigridia (tl-grid'i-a), n. [NL. (Ker, 1805), so 
called from the spotted flowers; < L. tigrix, a 
tiger: see tiger,} A genus of monocotyledonous 
plants, of the order Iridete and tribe Mnrmese. 
It is characterized by flowers with free-spreading seg- 
ments, the three inner ones much smaller, obtuse, and 
undulate, and two-parted style-branches with awl-shaped 
lobes. The 7 species are natives of Mexico, Central Amer- 
ica, Peru, and Chill. They are bulbous plants with a few 
narrow or plicate leaves and one or two terminal spathes. 
prized for their few singular but evanescent flowers. See 
tiger-flower. 
tigrine (ti'griu), a. [< L. tigrinns,< tigris, a tiger: 
see tiger,} Like a tiger in coloration: noting 
various striped or spotted animals, often trans- 
lating the specific technical word tigriuun or 
tigrina. Also tigerine. 
Tigris (ti'gris), 'M. [NL., < L. tigri*, a tiger: 
see tiger.} 1. A genus of felida, or section 
of Felte, based on the tiger, as T. reaalin. 2. 
An obsolete constellation where Vulpecula 
now is, first found in the planisphere of 
Bartsch, 1624, and recognized for more than 
a century following. 
tigrish (ti'grish), a. Same as tigerish. 
Tigrisoma (ti-gri-so'mft), n. [NL. (Swainson, 
1827), < Or. TQptc, tiger, + aupa, body.] A ge- 
Tlger-hittefn t Ttfrisema fataHltf). 
nus of bitterns, of the family Ardeids and sub- 
family Hotaurintf, having the plumage closely 
and profusely variegated; the tiller-bitterns. 
tig-tag (tig'tiig), w. [< fi</i + fm/2.] Same as 
1,1,1-. 
tile 
tike 1 (tik), ii. An obsolete or dialects! form of 
IMP. 
tike 2 (tik), . [AN., till i : ' MK. HI.,: I'll:,. < Icel. 
tik = Sw. til;, a bitch.] A cur-dog; hence, in 
contempt, a low, Miarling fellow. 
Hewe downe hertly 3. me heyttiene tyto .' 
Morte Arthure(R. R T. 8.), L 3043. 
Avaunt, you cure ! . . . 
Hound or spaniel, brmch or lym, 
Or bobtail tike or trundle-lall. 
Shalt., Lear, III. . 73. 
Sacrifice this tylte in her sight, . . . which being done, 
one of your soldiers may dip his foul shirt in his blood. 
Petle, Edward I. 
oh. let us not, like snarling tykm, 
In wrangling be divided. 
Burnt, The Dumfries Volunteers. 
tike 3 (tik), u. [< ME. tike; perhaps a particu- 
lar use of tike'*.] A countryman or clown; a 
boor; a churl; a fellow. 
Now aren thel lowe cheorlea, 
As wide as the worlde is wonyeth ther none 
ilotc vnder trlbut and talllage as ttitn and cheorlM. 
I'ien Ptumaan (<), nil. 37. 
He accounti them very honest Tiltet, and can with all 
safety trust his Life in their Hands, for now and then Uild- 
ing their Palms for the good Services they do him. 
yuoted in Aihtiiu'i Social Life 111 Kelgn of Queen Anne, 
(II. WO. 
tikelt, v. audu. An obsolete spelling of tickle. 
tikoor, tikuKti-kiir', ti'kul), H. [E.Ind.] An 
East Indian tree, Gareiiii'i jii'iluiiriilitta, of the 
order Guttiferx, 60 feet in height, bearing a 
large yellow fleshy fruit, the seeds invested 
with a succulent aril. The fruit is of a pleas- 
ant acid flavor, and is of similar use to limes 
and lemons. 
tikor (ti'kdr), n. [Hind, tikhur, Beng. fix-Aura.] 
A starch manufactured from the tubers of an 
East Indian plant, Curcuma angustij'olia, form- 
ing the chief arrowroot of India. See Curcu- 
ma, 2. 
tikul, n. See tikmtr. 
tikus (ti'kus), n. [Native name.] An animal 
of the genus tiymnura, as (!. rajfrri, native of 
the Moluccas and Sumatra ; the bulan. 
til't, prep. An old spelling of till?. 
til 2 (til), H. [< Hind, til, < Skt. /, the seed 
of xi. -ami n in, also the plant itself.] The sesame, 
or its seed. Also teel. 
tilbury (til'be-ri), n. ; pi. tilbvrim (-riz). [So 
called after oiie Tilbury, a London coachmaker, 
at the beginning of the 19th century.] A gig 
or two-wheeled carriage without a top or cover. 
The Regent drives in the Park every day In a tOffury, 
with his groom sitting by his side. 
GreviUe, Menn.tr*, June 7, 1818. 
tildt, v. t. See teld, Hl. 
tilde (til'de), H. [Sp. tUde (= OF. title, tiltre), 
an accent, mark, tittle, a more vernacular form 
at tiiiiln. a title: see tittle 2 , title.} A diacritic 
mark ("") placed over the letter H in Spanish to 
indicate tnat it is sounded as a palatal n, or 
very nearly like n followed by y, as in f>ekor, 
pronounced sany6r', caSon, pronounced ka- 
ny6n', and hence in English written eniiyon. 
'I iiis sound is represented in Portuguese by nli. In Italian 
and French by yn. The mark ~ , also written as a straight 
dash, like the macron, ~, was originally a small n, A 
representing nn, as in ano for amio, from Latin annu*. 
The mark was much used for n or m In medieval manu- 
scripts, and hence In early printed books, being put above 
the preceding letter to save space : thus, mvum'Mt for 
inoinitnentiim. The tilde la also used in the Koman nota- 
tion of Oriental and other languages: thus, ft for the 
Sanskrit palatal nasal. It la sometimes used by analogy 
oTer I to indicate / followed by y (Spanish and French //. 
Portuguese Ih, Italian gt). 
Tilden Act. See net. 
tile 1 (til), . [Formerly also tyle; < ME. tile, 
title, lyil, tyyl, tii/rl, tegele, < AS. tigel, tigele = 
D. tegchel, tegel = OHO. riagal, MEG. :iegel, Q. 
riegel = Sw. tegel = Dan. tegl = F. tuile = Sp. 
teja =: Pg. telliti = It. tegghui, tnjolii, < L. tcgula. 
usually in the pi. teguljr, tiles, roof-tiles, a 
tiled roof, < tegere, cover, roof: see thatch.} 1. 
A thin slab or plate of baked clay, used for cov- 
ering the roofs of buildings, paving floors, lin- 
ing furnaces and ovens, constructing drains, 
etc., and variously compounded and shaped ac- 
cording to the use in view. In ancient times roof- 
ing-tiles cut from marble were often used upon important 
buildings, carved in the form of those in potter)-. The 
beat qualities of brick-earth are used for making tiles, and 
the process is similar to that of brlckmaklng. Roofing- 
tiles are chiefly of two sorts, plain tile* and fantOet, the 
former being flat, the latter carved, both being laid so u 
to overlap and carry off any rain they receive. See cut 
under pantile. 
And from on high, 
Where Masons mount the ladder. Fragments fly; 
Mortar and crumbled Lime in Show'rs descend, 
And o'er thy Head destructive Tile* Impend. 
(Jay, Trivia, li. S70. 
