 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
tighten
verb
1: make tight or tighter; "Tighten the wire" [syn: {fasten}]
2: become tight or tighter; "The rope tightened"
3: restrict; "Tighten the rules"; "stiffen the regulations"
[syn: {stiffen}, {tighten up}, {constrain}]
4: narrow or limit; "reduce the influx of foreigners" [syn: {reduce}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tighten \Tight"en\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Tightened}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Tightening}.]
To draw tighter; to straiten; to make more close in any
manner.
Just where I please, with tightened rein
I'll urge thee round the dusty plain. --Fawkes.
{Tightening pulley} (Mach.), a pulley which rests, or is
forced, against a driving belt to tighten it.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
89 Moby Thesaurus words for "tighten":
affix, anchor, annex, attach, back, belay, box, box in, box up,
brace, cement, cinch, circumscribe, clamp, clinch, close, compress,
confine, continue, cramp, crank, crank in, crush, drag out, draw,
draw in, draw out, draw taut, elongate, engraft, ensphere, extend,
fasten, fix, graft, grapple, hem, hem in, keep from spreading,
keep within bounds, knit, lengthen, lengthen out, let out, limit,
localize, make fast, moor, narrow, nip, pinch, press, produce,
prolong, prolongate, protract, pull, pull in, put to, qualify,
reel, reel in, reinforce, restrict, rigidify, screw up, secure,
set, set to, shore up, spin out, squeeze, stiffen, stint, strain,
strengthen, stretch, stretch out, string out, tackle, tauten,
tense, trice up, trim, tweak, wad up, winch, wind in, windlass
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