Meanings
present singular third person ties up · participle present tying up · participle past tied up · past tied up
- To secure with rope, string, etc.
Don't forget to tie up your hair before you bake.
3 more examples
The robbers tied up the bank employees before forcing a way into the vault.
At the far end of the houses the head gardener stood waiting for his mistress, and he gave her strips of bass to tie up her nosegay. This she did slowly and laboriously, with knuckly old fingers that shook.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC“Mother — Mother will you tie up my shoeies?” Susan’s lisping voice interrupted their conversation.
1956 June 16, Dulce E. Waller, “Your Family and You”, in The Hamilton Spectator, volume CXI, number 140, Hamilton, Ont., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 12, column 2 - idiomaticTo occupy, detain, keep busy, or delay.
He has been tying up the phone lines for hours now.
1 more example
Just how much traffic was tied up was not immediately determined but in Houston about 150 cars of grain arrived yesterday and could not be transferred to the port because of the Port Terminal Railroad picketing.
1964 June 16, “Surprise Strike Stops Traffic On 6 Railroads”, in The Indianapolis Star, volume 62, number 11, Indianapolis, Ind., page 3 - idiomaticTo complete, finish, or resolve.
I'd like to tie up the project before I leave.
1 more example
Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief Elspeth Macdonald said the whitefish fleet could have had to tie up for the entire year because of the recommendation.
2025 December 5, “Isles economy could take £16m hit from cod quota slash, fishing official says”, in Shetland News - businessTo immobilize a capital: make a capital investment that makes that capital unavailable.
Don't tie up your capital in aging accounts.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Ancient Greek δέω
- δέω (déō)to secure with rope, etc.
Arabic رَبَطَ
- رَبَطَ (rabaṭa)to secure with rope, etc.
Bulgarian привързвам, замразявам
- привързвам (privărzvam)to secure with rope, etc.
- замразявам (zamrazjavam)to immobilize a capital.
Chinese Mandarin 捆綁, 捆紮
- 捆綁 (kǔnbǎng)to secure with rope, etc.
- 捆紮 (kǔnzā, kǔnzhá, kǔnzhā)to secure with rope, etc.
- 捆住 (kǔnzhù)to secure with rope, etc.
- 繫 /系 (jì)to secure with rope, etc.
Dutch vastbinden
- vastbindento secure with rope, etc.
Esperanto ligi
- ligito secure with rope, etc.
Finnish sitoa, köyttää
- sitoato secure with rope, etc.
- köyttääto secure with rope, etc.
French ligoter, immobiliser
- ligoterto secure with rope, etc.
- immobiliserto immobilize a capital.
German festbinden, fesseln
- festbindento secure with rope, etc.
- fesselnto secure with rope, etc.
- bindento secure with rope, etc.
- anbindento secure with rope, etc.
- zubindento secure with rope, etc.
- festlegento immobilize a capital.
Japanese 括る
- 括る (kukuru)to secure with rope, etc.
Korean 묶다
- 묶다 (mukda)to secure with rope, etc.
Latin ligō, alligō
- ligōto secure with rope, etc.
- alligōto secure with rope, etc.
- vinciōto secure with rope, etc.
Māori renarena
- renarenato secure with rope, etc.
Polish zawiązywać, związać
- zawiązywaćto secure with rope, etc.
- związaćto secure with rope, etc.
- przywiązywaćto secure with rope, etc.
- przywiązaćto secure with rope, etc.
- związywaćto secure with rope, etc.
- unieruchomićto immobilize a capital.
Portuguese atar, amarrar
- atarto secure with rope, etc.
- amarrarto secure with rope, etc.
Russian завя́зывать, завяза́ть
- завя́зывать (zavjázyvatʹ)to secure with rope, etc.
- завяза́ть (zavjazátʹ)to secure with rope, etc.
- привя́зывать (privjázyvatʹ)to secure with rope, etc.
- привяза́ть (privjazátʹ)to secure with rope, etc.
- свя́зывать (svjázyvatʹ)to secure with rope, etc.
- связа́ть (svjazátʹ)to secure with rope, etc.
Spanish apersogar
- apersogarto secure with rope, etc.
Ukrainian зав'я́зувати, зав'яза́ти
- зав'я́зувати (zavʺjázuvaty)to secure with rope, etc.
- зав'яза́ти (zavʺjazáty)to secure with rope, etc.
- прив'я́зувати (pryvʺjázuvaty)to secure with rope, etc.
- прив'яза́ти (pryvʺjazáty)to secure with rope, etc.
- зв'я́зувати (zvʺjázuvaty)to secure with rope, etc.
- зв'яза́ти (zvʺjazáty)to secure with rope, etc.
Yiddish צובינדן
- צובינדן (tsubindn)to secure with rope, etc.
Cite this entry
tie up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tie%20up
“tie up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tie%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tie up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tie%20up.
Source: tie up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.