[tie the knot]{v. phr.}, {informal} To get married; also toperform a wedding ceremony. •/Diane and Bill tied the knot yesterday./•/The minister tied the knot for Diane and Bill yesterday./

[tie up]{v. phr.} 1. To show or stop the movement or action of;hinder; tangle. •/The crash of the two trucks tied up all traffic in thecenter of town./ •/The strike tied up the factory./ 2. To take all thetime of. •/The meeting will tie the President up until noon./ •/TheSenate didn’t vote because a debate on a small point kept it tied up allweek./ •/He can’t see you now. He’s tied up on the telephone./ 3. Tolimit or prevent the use of. •/His money is tied up in a trust fund and hecan’t take it out./ •/Susan tied up the bathroom for an hour./ 4. Toenter into an association or partnership; join. •/Our company has tied upwith another firm to support the show./ 5. To dock. •/The ships tied up atNew York./ 6. {slang} To finish; complete. •/We’ve talked long enough;let’s tie up these plans and start doing things./

[tie-up]{n.} A congestion; a stoppage of the normal flow of traffic,business or correspondence. •/There was a two-hour traffic tie-up on thehighway./ •/No pay checks were delivered because of the mail servicetie-up./

[tight] See: SIT TIGHT.

[tight end]{n.} An end in football who plays close to the tackle inthe line. •/The tight end is used to catch passes but most often to block./Contrast: SPLIT END.

[tighten one’s belt]{v. phr.} To live on less money than usual; useless food and other things. •/When father lost his job we had to tighten ourbelts./ Often used in the expression "tighten one’s belt another notch".•/When the husband lost his job, the Smiths had to do without many things,but when their savings were all spent, they had to tighten their belts anothernotch./

[tighten the screws]{v. phr.} To try to make someone do something bymaking it more and more difficult not to do it; apply pressure. •/When manystudents still missed class after he began giving daily quizzes, the teachertightened the screws by failing anyone absent four times./

[tight-lipped]{adj.} A taciturn person; one who doesn’t say much.•/The witness was tight-lipped about what she saw for fear of physicalretaliation by the mob./

[tight money]{n. phr.} The opposite of inflation, when money is hardto borrow from the banks. •/The government decided that tight money is theway to bring down inflation./

[tight squeeze]{n. phr.} A difficult situation; financial troubles.•/The Browns aren’t going out to dinner these days; they are in a tightsqueeze./

[tightwad]{n. phr.} A stingy person. •/My father is such a tightwadthat he won’t give me an allowance./

[Tijuana taxi]{slang}, {citizen’s band radio jargon} A policecar. •/I’ve got a Tijuana taxi in sight./

[till] See: ROB THE TILL or HAVE ONE’S HAND IN THE TILL.

[till the cows come home]{adv. phr.} Until sunset; until the last.•/The women in the country used to sit in the spinning room making yarn outof skeins of wool, usually till the cows came home./

[till the last gun is fired] or [until the last gun is fired] {adv.phr.} Until the end; until everything is finished or decided. •/Fred alwaysliked to stay at parties until the last gun was fired./ •/The candidatedidn’t give up hope of being elected until the last gun was fired./

[tilt] See: FULL TILT.

[tilt at windmills]{v. phr.}, {literary} To do battle with animaginary foe (after Cervantes' Don Quixote). •/John is a nice guy but whenit comes to departmental meetings he wastes everybody’s time by constantlytilting at windmills./

[time] See: ABOUT TIME, AGAINST TIME, AT A TIME, AT ONE TIME, AT THE SAMETIME, AT TIMES, BEHIND THE TIMES, BEHIND TIME, BIDE ONE’S TIME, BIG TIME, EVERYTIME ONE TURNS AROUND, FOR THE TIME BEING, FROM TIME TO TIME, GIVE A HARD TIME,HAVE A TIME, HIGH TIME, IN GOOD TIME, IN NO TIME, IN THE NICK OF TIME, IN TIME,KEEP TIME, LESS THAN NO TIME, LIVE ON BORROWED TIME, MAKE TIME, MARK TIME, ONCEUPON A TIME, ON ONE’S OWN TIME, ON TIME, PASS THE TIME OF DAY, SMALL-TIME, TAKEONE’S TIME, TWO-TIME.

[time and again] or [time and time again] {adv.} Many times;repeatedly; very often, •/I’ve told you time and again not to touch thevase!/ •/Children are forgetful and must be told time and time again how tobehave./

[time and a half]{n. phr.} Pay given to a worker at a rate half againas much as he usually gets. •/John got time and a half when he worked beyondhis usual quitting time./ •/Tom gets one dollar for regular pay and adollar and a half for time and a half./

[time is ripe] The best time has come for doing something. •/The PrimeMinister will hold elections when the time is ripe./ •/Lee saw his motherwas upset, so he decided the time was not ripe to tell her about the brokenwindow./

[time of day] See: NOT TO GIVE ONE THE TIME OF DAY.

[time off]{n. phr.} A period of release from work. •/If I had sometime off this afternoon, I would finish writing the letters I promised to myfamily./

[time of one’s life]{n. phr.} A very happy or wonderful time. •/Johnhad the time of his life at the party./ •/I could see that she was havingthe time of her life./

[time out]{n. phr.} Time during which a game, a lecture, a discussionor other activity is stopped for a while for some extra questions or informaldiscussion, or some other reason. •/He took a time out from studying to go toa movie./ •/The player called time out so he could tie his shoe./•/"Time out!" — The students said, "Could you explain that again?"/

[tin ear]{n. phr.} 1. A lack of sensitivity to noise. •/Theconstruction noise doesn’t bother Fred; he’s got a tin ear./ 2. A lack ofmusical ability; state of being tone deaf. •/People with a tin ear make poorchoir members./

[tingle] See: SPINE-TINGLING.

[tinker’s damn] See: NOT WORTH A TINKER’S DAMN.

[Tin Pan Alley]{n. phr.} The pop music industry. •/What kind ofmusic will Tin Pan Alley come up with this year?/

[tip] See: AT THE TIP OF ONE’S TONGUE, FROM TIP TO TIP.

[tip off]{v.}, {informal} To tell something not generally known;tell secret facts to; warn. •/The class president tipped off the class thatit was the superintendent’s birthday./ •/The thieves did not rob the bankas planned because someone tipped them off that it was being watched by thepolice./ Compare: PUT WISE.

[tip the balance] See: TIP THE SCALES(2).

[tip the scales]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To weigh. •/Martin tipsthe scales at 180 pounds./ 2. or [tip the balance] To have important ordecisive influence; make a decision go for or against you; decide. •/John’svote tipped the scales in our favor, and we won the election./ Compare: TURNTHE TIDE.

[tired] See: DEAD TIRED, SICK AND TIRED.

[tire out] See: WEAR OUT(2).

[tit for tat]{n. phr.} Equal treatment in return; a fair exchange.•/Billy hit me, so I gave him tit for tat./ •/I told him if he did me anyharm I would return tit for tat./ •/They had a warm debate and the two boysgave each other tit for tat./ Compare: GET BACK AT, EYE FOR AN EYE AND ATOOTH FOR A TOOTH.