tight

tight
   1. drunk
   Perhaps a pun on screwed, as the OED suggests, but I am not sure which usage came first:
    Well, he got in at last, and he lit a candle then. That took him five minutes. He was pretty tight. (Somerville and Ross, 1897)
   2. stingy
   Tight with the purse-strings and tight-fisted:
    A wunt gie 'e nothun, a allus was a tight man. {EDD)
   A tightwad is a miser:
    Cost him a hundred bucks to cancel which must have killed the old tightwad. (M. Thomas, 1987)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • tight — [tīt] adj. [ME, altered (prob. infl. by toght: see TAUT) < thight < OE thight, strong, akin to ON thēttr, Ger dicht, tight, thick < IE base * tenk , to thicken, congeal > MIr tēcht, coagulated] 1. Obs. dense 2. so close or compact in… …   English World dictionary

  • Tight — Tight, a. [Compar. {Tighter} (t[imac]t [ e]r); superl. {Tightest}.] [OE. tight, thiht; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. [thorn][=e]ttr, Dan. t[ae]t, Sw. t[ a]t: akin to D. & G. dicht thick, tight, and perhaps to E. thee to thrive, or to thick …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tight — 1 Tight, taut, tense are comparable chiefly in their basic senses in which they mean drawn or stretched to the point where there is no looseness or slackness. Tight implies a drawing around or about something in a way that constricts or binds it… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • tight — tight; tight·en; tight·en·er; tight·ish; tight·ly; tight·ness; un·tight; air·tight·ness; gas·tight·ness; oil·tight·ness; up·tight·ness; wa·ter·tight·ness; weath·er·tight·ness; …   English syllables

  • tight — tight, tightly Tight is used as an adverb in combination with a number of verbs, primarily in commands or instructions: hold tight, sit tight, sleep tight. It also occurs as the first element in a few compound adjectives, e.g. tight fisted, tight …   Modern English usage

  • tight — (adj.) mid 15c., dense, close, compact, from M.E. thight, from O.N. þettr watertight, close in texture, solid, from P.Gmc. *thenkhtuz (Cf. second element in O.E. meteþiht stout from eating; M.H.G. dihte dense, thick, Ger. dicht dense, tight,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • tight — ► ADJECTIVE 1) fixed, closed, or fastened firmly. 2) (of clothes) close fitting. 3) well sealed against something such as water or air. 4) (of a rope, fabric, or surface) stretched so as to leave no slack. 5) (of an area or space) allowing little …   English terms dictionary

  • Tight — Tight …   Википедия

  • Tight A$ — Song by John Lennon from the album Mind Games Released 16 November 1973 Recorded July–August 1973 Genre Rock …   Wikipedia

  • tight — [adj1] close, snug bound, clasped, closefitting, compact, constricted, contracted, cramped, crowded, dense, drawn, enduring, established, fast, firm, fixed, hidebound, inflexible, invulnerable, narrow, quick, rigid, secure, set, skintight, solid …   New thesaurus

  • tight´en|er — tight|en «TY tuhn», transitive verb. to make tight or tighter: »He tightened his belt. –v.i. to become tight or tighter: »The rope tightened as I pulled on it. –tight´en|er, noun …   Useful english dictionary

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