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Tighten   /tˈaɪtən/   Listen
Tighten

verb
(past & past part. tightened; pres. part. tightening)
1.
Make tight or tighter.  Synonym: fasten.
2.
Become tight or tighter.
3.
Restrict.  Synonyms: constrain, stiffen, tighten up.  "Stiffen the regulations"
4.
Narrow or limit.  Synonym: reduce.



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"Tighten" Quotes from Famous Books



... although it was with manifest difficulty that he stammered to the end of his speech. Arnold, still wondering at the strange turn events had taken, saw Tremayne's lips tighten and his brows contract in the effort to repress a smile. The other masked figures at the table moved restlessly in their seats, and glanced from one to another. Seeing this, Tremayne stepped quickly forward to Natasha's side, and said in a ...
— The Angel of the Revolution - A Tale of the Coming Terror • George Griffith

... the trees, stooping ever and anon to avoid some low-swung branch; through grassy rides and sunny glades, until all sound of pursuit was died away. So, turning aside into the denser green, Beltane stayed, and sprang down to tighten the great roan's saddle-girths, strained in the encounter. Now as he was busied thus, came the maid Mellent, very pale 'neath her long black hair, and ...
— Beltane The Smith • Jeffery Farnol

... some dark muffling substance fell between my sight and the sun, and I felt a fierce strain at my throat. But the words of Ayesha had warned me; with one rapid hand I seized the noose before it could tighten too closely, with the other I tore the bandage away from my eyes, and, wheeling round on the dastardly foe, struck him down with one spurn of my foot. His hand, as he fell, relaxed its hold on the noose; I freed my throat from the knot, and sprang from the copse into the ...
— A Strange Story, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... felt want is the recognition of the fact. A wife chosen by one's parents, not by himself, is devoid of all of those special characteristics which distinguish her where processes of love begin, go on, deepen and tighten, until the bond is woven and ...
— The True Woman • Justin D. Fulton

... flashed as she hearkened to these high words, and I saw her hands tighten on the golden ...
— Cleopatra • H. Rider Haggard

... plenty of improvements that we can make. I will ask Congress for Presidential authority to tighten up the rules for eligibility ...
— Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present • Various

... Sylvester Hudson, with his sallow face and gentle, contemplative eyes. He had brought her to his home. Surely that was an honorable and generous deed. He had given her over to the care and protection of his wife and daughters. But why didn't Mrs. Hudson like it? Why did she tighten her lips and pull her nostrils when she looked at her helper? And what was the sinister, inner meaning of those two speeches ... about the purpose of her being in the house at all? "An ornament on the parlor mantel" ... "aiming to please him...." Of ...
— Hidden Creek • Katharine Newlin Burt

... circumstance tighten around him. His jaw tautened. Thank the Lord he had been away—on his own. He had not the ...
— Slaves of Mercury • Nat Schachner

... common sense to know that the first necessity was to stop the bleeding; so, quieting the little sister by a word or two, she inserted the stick in the bandage above the ankle, and turned it more than once, so as to tighten the ligament materially. Looking at the pallid ...
— Cedar Creek - From the Shanty to the Settlement • Elizabeth Hely Walshe

... Marie-Anne and St. Pierre had disappeared. At this moment Marie-Anne was telling of him, of the adventure in the hot patch of sand. He fancied the suppressed excitement in her voice as she unburdened herself. He saw St. Pierre's face darken, his muscles tighten—and crouching in silence, he seemed to see the misshapen hulk of Andre, the Broken Man, listening to what was passing between the other two. And he heard again the mad monotone of Andre's voice, crying plaintively, "HAS ANY ...
— The Flaming Forest • James Oliver Curwood

... listened, Frank made a discovery that caused him to tighten his grip on that reliable repeating rifle. There were two of the pursuers! And he anticipated that the leader must come in sight ere ...
— The Saddle Boys in the Grand Canyon - or The Hermit of the Cave • James Carson

... identity of age could not but cause comparison of lots. "Suppose it had been Sally!" was the thought that would sometimes spring on her mother's mind; and then the girl would wonder what mamma was thinking of that she should make her arm that was round her tighten as though she feared to lose her, or bring her an irrelevant, ...
— Somehow Good • William de Morgan

... network of holy indifference, then go on with our work. When we discover that our lute is out of tune, we must neither break the strings nor throw the instrument aside; but listen attentively to find out what is the cause of the discord, and then gently tighten or slacken the strings, ...
— The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales • Jean Pierre Camus

... his growing distress Dane saw Van Rycke's jaw tighten, the fighting mask snap back on Captain Jellico's face. Whatever ...
— Plague Ship • Andre Norton

... her arms, And running along beside Would come her little boy, the little boy he loved so well, Who gave him sugar from his hand and patted his nose and neck. And into the carriage they all would get, His mistress and baby and little boy. And Tom would tighten the reins a bit And off down the street they'd go, Clopperty, clopperty, clopperty, clop. When he was out on the streets,— This dear old, steady old horse,— He knew just what to do, when to go and when to stand still. And when with clang! clang! clang! Fire engines shrieked down the street ...
— Here and Now Story Book - Two- to seven-year-olds • Lucy Sprague Mitchell

... To tighten the lashings of a pack, thrust a stick through them, twist it forcibly round and round, till the lashings are screwed tight enough, ...
— The Art of Travel - Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries • Francis Galton

... don't see who it is, Geoffrey. That last one is——' Suddenly Jean bent forward as he was trying to extricate her from the crowd, and she looked in his face. Something that she found there made her tighten her hold on ...
— The Convert • Elizabeth Robins

... We had to tighten our belts before we came to the wood wherein cross-roads meet, from north, south, and east, within five miles of the town of Chinon. There was not a white coin among us; night was falling, and it seemed as if we must lie out under the stars, and ...
— A Monk of Fife • Andrew Lang

... tighten on the gleaming fabric so temptingly upheld, and she was about to take it when, "If ye please, sir, would ye kindly tell me where I'd be finding the flannel place?" said a voice behind her, and, glancing up, she saw a meek little Irishwoman ...
— Rose in Bloom - A Sequel to "Eight Cousins" • Louisa May Alcott

... the cold barrel of my musket pressing against the palm of my hand, or the bayonet would touch my cheek, and at the touch something would tighten in my throat, and I would shake the thoughts from me and remember that I was sworn to love only my ...
— Captain Macklin • Richard Harding Davis

... paid to Lynde's fresh outbreak. Some one picked up his hat and set it on the back of his head, giving him quite a rakish air. His dignity suffered until the wind took the hat again. The party proceeded in silence, halting once to tighten a girth, and another time to wait for a straggler. If the men spoke to one another it was in subdued tones or whispers. Two of the horsemen trotted on a hundred yards in advance, like skirmishers thrown ...
— The Queen of Sheba & My Cousin the Colonel • Thomas Bailey Aldrich

... must. Hurry!" He gave the rope two jerks, and it at once began to tighten, and Stella's feet left the ground ...
— Ted Strong's Motor Car • Edward C. Taylor

... wouldn't be any good, you know." He went on speaking very carefully and quietly, and while he spoke she felt his left arm tighten round her, binding her own arms down to her sides as might a thong, while his right hand slid up to the base of her throat. She writhed, twisting her body desperately in his grip. "Keep still. ...
— The Lamp of Fate • Margaret Pedler

... my soul I sold for the dirt they would buy. They are gone. Can you buy them back? or the decency, honesty, cleanliness, youth, I pawned, for filth and more filth? I am saturated with it. I reek with it. It embraces me with octopus arms. Every kopeck, every rouble, has gone to tighten that embrace. It is not to be loosened. I am hell-bound for eternity. And you speak to ...
— The Genius • Margaret Horton Potter

... breath; more than one striking instance of this is recorded by Tacitus; and though he questions the wisdom of relieving personal indignation by a vain invective, which must bring death and ruin on the speaker and all his family, and in the end only tighten the yoke it tries to shake, yet the intractable pride of these representatives of the old families has something about it to which, human as we are, we cannot refuse our sympathy. The only other prose-writer ...
— A History of Roman Literature - From the Earliest Period to the Death of Marcus Aurelius • Charles Thomas Cruttwell

... murmured, as he drove along in his powerful car. "I've got quite a lot to do if I make an early start for Philadelphia, in my airship, to-morrow. I want to tighten the propeller on the shaft a trifle, and give the engine a good try-out. Then, too, I think I'd better make the landing springs a little stiffer. The last time I made a descent the frame was pretty well jarred up. Yes, if I make that air trip to-morrow I'll have to do some tall hustling ...
— Tom Swift and his Wireless Message • Victor Appleton

... of a good harvest or the famine of a drought. If he complains it is within himself; and if he whines and whimpers no one ever hears him. His face may become a little more stern under the higher pressure; he may tighten his waist belt a hole or two to stifle the complaints of his empty stomach, but his voice loses no note of its cheeriness and his smile none ...
— Quit Your Worrying! • George Wharton James

... a quiver in ary twig. The Clarke boy was a leetle pale an' when he raised his pistol I could see a twitch in his lips. He looked kind o' stiff. I see they was one thing' 'bout shootin' he hadn't learnt. It don't do to tighten up. I were skeered—I don't deny it—'cause a gun don't allus have to be p'inted ...
— In the Days of Poor Richard • Irving Bacheller

... of putting armlets on young folk, and retaining them in after life, so as to tighten round and ...
— The Mafulu - Mountain People of British New Guinea • Robert W. Williamson

... They're down the hall. Lemme tighten your bunk or you'll be in trouble—" Tightening the bunk he pulled out the letter and said, calvishly: "Ah-hah! Who is ...
— The Adventurer • Cyril M. Kornbluth

... we are coming to is the most dangerous of all," he said. "But it is, fortunately, not long. Two hours will bring us to a sheltered valley. And now leave everything to your mule. If you feel nervous shut your eyes, but as you value your life neither tighten your reins ...
— Mr. Fortescue • William Westall

... hard frozen, and the keenness of the cold aggravated the uncomfortable symptoms which accompany pulses at 110 degrees. The native guide was the only person capable of work, so we were late in getting off, and rode four and a half hours to the camping ground, only stopping once to tighten our girths. Not a rope, strap, or buckle, or any of our gear gave way, and though I rode without a crupper, the breeching of a pack mule's saddle ...
— The Hawaiian Archipelago • Isabella L. Bird

... responded nervously and automatically to his condition, felt herself begin to tighten up, and knew that she was equally ready to shake him furiously, or to burst into anguished tears of sympathy for ...
— The Brimming Cup • Dorothy Canfield Fisher

... Marguerite felt her heartstrings tighten as she thought of this young couple so lately wedded. People smiled a little when Sir Andrew Ffoulkes' name was mentioned, some called him effeminate, other uxorious, his fond attachment for his pretty little wife was thought to pass the bounds of decorum. There was no doubt that since his ...
— The Elusive Pimpernel • Baroness Emmuska Orczy

... had followed the master, but she and a few others had followed the huntsman. After a while she had dropped a little behind. Then there had been a check. She had seized upon the opportunity it afforded her to slip off and tighten ...
— The Brother of Daphne • Dornford Yates

... here," I said. "Tighten up the axle, and go on with one sprocket only. We can get into the town that way, ...
— The Car of Destiny • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... unnecessary tumult, Till he wearied of the shouting; 60 And he said to the Kenozha, To the pike, the Maskenozha, "Take the bait of this rude fellow, Break the line of Hiawatha!" In his fingers Hiawatha 65 Felt the loose line jerk and tighten; As he drew it in, it tugged so, That the birch canoe stood endwise, Like a birch log in the water, With the squirrel, Adjidaumo, 70 Perched and frisking on the summit. Full of scorn was Hiawatha When he saw the fish rise upward, Saw the pike, the Maskenozha, ...
— The Song of Hiawatha - An Epic Poem • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

... breach gave the alarm whistle: some people were, doubtless, drawing near. It was necessary to finish. Alexandre knotted the handkerchief round the unhappy woman's neck, while Richard with his fist forced her shriek back into her throat. Red madness fell upon them, they both began to twist and tighten the handkerchief, and dragged the poor creature over the muddy ground until she stirred no more. Then, as the whistle sounded again, they took the bag, left the body there with the handkerchief around the neck, and galloped, all four of them, as far as the Grenelle bridge, whence ...
— Fruitfulness - Fecondite • Emile Zola

... stand, Awaken once more to the rush and roar, And on the rock-point tighten your hand, As you turn and see a valley deep, 310 That was not there a moment before, Suck rattling down between you and a heap Of toppling billow, whose instant fall Must sink the whole island once for all, Or watch the silenter, ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell • James Lowell

... sometimes turns round on its wire, leaving one or two strings undamped. Tighten the set screw. See that the dampers are in line; and that they will stop the tone properly ...
— Piano Tuning - A Simple and Accurate Method for Amateurs • J. Cree Fischer

... of Mavis's hand instinctively tighten on his; it gripped as if she could never let him go: tears fell from her eyes on to his fingers. With an effort he freed himself and, without saying a word, walked quickly away. With all her soul, she listened ...
— Sparrows - The Story of an Unprotected Girl • Horace W. C. Newte

... mainstay of the magazines is in the presentation of articles dealing with happenings of national interest or personalities prominent in the day's news. This task grows increasingly difficult as the newspapers tighten their grip upon the public's attention and as the news pictorials of the moving picture screen gain in popular esteem by improved technical skill and more intelligent editing. The magazine of large circulation must go to press so long before the newspapers and the films ...
— If You Don't Write Fiction • Charles Phelps Cushing

... him with a sardonic laugh, and sought to tighten upon his shoulders its bony grasp; but Kirkwood resolutely shrugged it off and went in search of man's most faithful dumb friend, to wit, his pipe; the which, when found and filled, he lighted with a ...
— The Black Bag • Louis Joseph Vance

... which makes them both unfriendly toward children and very bad for children. These young creatures ought to go along through their days rather dreamily and altogether serenely. Every turn of the screw to tighten their nerves makes more certain some form of early nervous breakdown. They ought to have work to do, of course,—enough of it to occupy both mind and body—but it should be quiet, systematic, regular work, much of ...
— Study of Child Life • Marion Foster Washburne

... out of the old city, alone on the flat, sandy road that lies between Hamburg and Berlin. Here we are, with hope before us, resolution spurring us on, and a twenty-eight pound knapsack on our backs. Tighten the straps, my friend, and you will walk easier ...
— A Tramp's Wallet - stored by an English goldsmith during his wanderings in Germany and France • William Duthie

... mouthful gone, the cider bottles empty, they tighten the straps of their kit bags and rise ...
— With Those Who Wait • Frances Wilson Huard

... river again at the mouth of Deer Creek, and as there was some pretty good coal there quite easy to get, we made camp one day to try to tighten our wagon tires, John Rogers acting as blacksmith. This was my first chance to reconnoiter, and so I took my gun and went up the creek, a wide, treeless bottom. In the ravines on the south side were beautiful groves ...
— Death Valley in '49 • William Lewis Manly

... the work of some nerves to tell the muscles of the small arteries to tighten, or contract, when too much blood is coming into them. Alcohol so paralyzes these nerves that they do not carry their message; the arteries let in the blood, and become swollen and enlarged. They tell the mischief done to them, by causing the skin to be red or flushed. If people drink much ...
— Object Lessons on the Human Body - A Transcript of Lessons Given in the Primary Department of School No. 49, New York City • Sarah F. Buckelew and Margaret W. Lewis

... forms a final inspection before concreting to check line and level, to close open joints and to tighten up clamps and wedges. Finally clean each form and wet it down thoroughly before placing the concrete—do this just before ...
— Concrete Construction - Methods and Costs • Halbert P. Gillette

... is the best, I cannot dispute that; but whether you can act it out—reformers do not make money, you know." He examined his saddle-girth and began to tighten it. "One can condemn—too cautiously—by a kind of—elevated cowardice (I have that fault); but one can also condemn too rashly; I remember when I did so. One of the occupants of those two graves you see yonder side by side—I think might have lived longer if I had not spoken so rashly for his ...
— The Grandissimes • George Washington Cable

... could not catch. It was so new to her to feel like that—for no girl was less given to moods and repinings. And all the time a sort of contempt for this soft and almost sentimental feeling made her tighten her lips and frown. She felt distrustful and sarcastic towards a mood so utterly subversive of that fetich 'Hardness,' to the unconscious worship of which she had been brought up. To stand no sentiment or nonsense either in herself or others was the first ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... despairing gurgle Gus started, doing his best to work sideways from the plunge. Hazard, every sense on the alert, almost exulting in his perfect coolness, took in the slack with deft rapidity. Then, as the rope began to tighten, he braced himself. The shock drew him half out of the crevice; but he held firm and served as the center of the circle, while Gus, with the rope as a radius, described the circumference and ended up on the extreme southern edge of the Saddle. A few moments later Hazard ...
— Dutch Courage and Other Stories • Jack London

... severely exercised. We were all so hungry that Charley consented to serve out a small piece of biscuit to each of us, just to stay our appetites; but that produced a very transient effect. At first I saw him tightening his waist-belt; then I had to tighten mine, as Harry did his. Poor Tom was suffering too much pain to care about eating, and Aboh was well accustomed to ...
— The Two Supercargoes - Adventures in Savage Africa • W.H.G. Kingston

... mate who had called, stood superb and indomitable, ghost-gray in the moonlight, a mark no tyro could miss. A cherry branch intervened, obscuring the foresight of the Hunter's rifle. The Hunter shifted his position furtively. His crooked finger was just about to tighten on the trigger. At this moment, when the very night hung stiller as if with a sense of crisis, the giant bull turned, exposing his left flank to the full glare of the moonlight. Something gleamed silver down his side, as if it were a shining belt ...
— The House in the Water - A Book of Animal Stories • Charles G. D. Roberts

... grooms was entering the lot with Polly's horse. She stooped to tighten one of her sandals, and as she rose, Jim saw her sway slightly and put one hand to her head. He looked at her sharply, remembering her faintness in the parade ...
— Polly of the Circus • Margaret Mayo

... tears falling, felt the slender fingers within his own tighten convulsively; felt her lips against his hand—an instant only; then she turned and slipped through ...
— The Dark Star • Robert W. Chambers

... using care not to bruise the fruit, and jarring the barrel back and forth on the plank as each basket is put into it in order to settle the fruit firmly in place; lastly, arrange a layer of apples stems up and apply the press, using a hatchet to get the head in place and to drive on and tighten the hoops. ...
— Apple Growing • M. C. Burritt

... neatly to front, run ribbon in the spaces made for it and tighten slightly, and finish with ties and bows ...
— Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet • Anonymous

... relatively few commodity exports, vulnerability to natural disasters, and long distances from main markets and between constituent islands. GDP growth rose less than 3% on average in the 1990s. In response to foreign concerns, the government has promised to tighten regulation of its offshore financial center. In mid-2002 the government stepped up efforts to boost tourism. Agriculture, especially livestock farming, is a second target for growth. Australia and New Zealand are the main suppliers of ...
— The 2005 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency

... lion, narrowly escaping with his life, that he is at present utterly unable to travel, though he declares he shall be as soon as I am prepared to start. He received the injury from which he is suffering on the morning of the day we reached this place. He had got off to tighten the girths of his saddle, but had again mounted, and was following some way behind, when a monstrous animal rushed out from behind a thicket, and sprang on his horse. His side and leg were much lacerated as he threw himself from his saddle, and before he could get on his feet ...
— Hendricks the Hunter - The Border Farm, a Tale of Zululand • W.H.G. Kingston

... door set his nerves tingling afresh and made him tighten his grasp on the pistol. The steel was cold and slippery in his moist fingers. What an awful noise it would make when he pulled the trigger! If the door were to open how close he would be to the figure that came ...
— The Empty House And Other Ghost Stories • Algernon Blackwood

... the "Angel's Serenade." As the soft soprano lifted and fell in the modulations of that song there was in its timbre, apart from the pure, amber music of it, a questing, seeking pathos, and Willetts felt the hand on his shoulder tighten and then relax; and, as the song ended, he saw that his companion's eyes were shining ...
— The Gentleman From Indiana • Booth Tarkington

... to feel the check-string tighten afresh upon his leg. It came fluttering down again, first drawn back by the weight of the log, and afterwards by the strong arm ...
— The Cliff Climbers - A Sequel to "The Plant Hunters" • Captain Mayne Reid

... by the dais door) Now they have found the weather-ropes and lashed them Over the carven ends of the beams outside: They bear on them, they tighten them with levers, And soon they'll tear the ...
— The Atlantic Book of Modern Plays • Various

... prices after the close of the World War, the wholesalers showed a tendency to tighten up their credit and discount terms, the National Coffee Roasters Association especially recommending thirty days' credit, or at most sixty days, and a maximum cash ...
— All About Coffee • William H. Ukers

... heart-strings never snap. The heart itself breaks under the tension of love and grief, grieved and grieving love. But the strings only strengthen and tighten under the ...
— Quiet Talks on John's Gospel • S. D. Gordon

... until, having reached a certain place where a group of cottonwoods shaded the gully, he stopped and dismounted to fuss with his cinches. Mary V could not be sure whether he was merely killing time, or whether he really needed to tighten the saddle; but when another rider appeared suddenly from the eastward, she did know that the first rider ...
— Skyrider • B. M. Bower

... baby's sorrow, happily, is shorter than its remembrance; and Rosy-Lilly soon learned to repeat her phrase: "Poor Daddy had to go 'way-'way-off," without the quivering lip and wistful look which made the big woodsmen's hearts tighten so painfully beneath their homespun shirts. Conroy's Camp was a spacious, oblong cabin of "chinked" logs, with a big stove in the middle. The bunks were arranged in a double tier along one wall, and a plank table (rude, but massive) along the other. Built on at one end, beside ...
— The Backwoodsmen • Charles G. D. Roberts

... Torne-aelf and Muonio-aelf and lead to the Lyngen Fjord. How long would it stop there? Step by step it would move along the coast southwards to Drontheim. Then Norrland would be surrounded on three sides by Russians. "Later on they would tighten the noose and strangle our country. Are we to remain inactive during the course of events?... The Swede in general is aware of the existence of this danger and knows that it may come upon him at any ...
— England and Germany • Emile Joseph Dillon

... sixpence, and he hit her on the hind leg, and the dogs were after her, and chased the hare into the old woman's cottage. The shepherd ran after them, and there he found them, tearing at the old woman; but the hare was twisted round their necks, and she was crying, "Tighten, hare, tighten!" and it was choking them. So he tore the hare off the dogs; and then the old woman begged him to save her from them, and she promised never to plague him again. "But if the old dog's teeth had been as sharp as the young one's, she ...
— Angling Sketches • Andrew Lang

... perfect face, then at one of the doves that had perched on her shoulder, and thought of treacherous swart Sepoys, of Bengal tigers, of all the tangled work that lay before him in Hindoostan jungles, a shadow fell over the young man's brow, and a dull pain seemed to tighten the valves of his heart. Just then his appointed lot in the Master's vineyard did not smile as alluringly as the sunny slopes of Eschol; but he put ...
— Infelice • Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

... cords being also brought in loops around their breasts and necks. A long cord proceeded from these fastenings and was held by a Japanese, who, if an attempt were made to escape, had only to pull it to bring the elbows together with great pain and to tighten the loop around the neck so as nearly to strangle the prisoner. Their ankles and knees were also ...
— Historic Tales, Vol. 12 (of 15) - The Romance of Reality • Charles Morris

... as well get set," said Joe. "We've got time but we might as well. Space suits on. I'll tighten up the chain. Steering rockets'll do that. Then we'll take a last look. All firing racks ...
— Space Tug • Murray Leinster

... his promise easily, and she held out her hand. He kissed it after the European custom; and as he did so he felt her fingers tighten over his, as she whispered with a little underlying emotional vibration, "God bless you, my ...
— The Title Market • Emily Post

... to let him tighten the saddle cinch. Owing to the heat, he had been carrying his coat in front of him. He tossed it on a boulder by the side of the trail, in such a way that the inside pocket hung down. From it slid some papers and a photograph. Melissy looked down ...
— Brand Blotters • William MacLeod Raine

... spoken of the excellent mast already. The shrouds were of iron rope. This is affected by heat and wet, but not so much, as cordage is. The screw links to tighten the shrouds seldom had to be employed; a copper rope from the truck to a shroud acted as a ...
— The Voyage Alone in the Yawl "Rob Roy" • John MacGregor

... invention. It is only necessary to arrange the loop in the opening of the burrow, securing the wire to a stout stick, firmly driven into the ground. If properly "set" the animal, on emerging from the burrow, will become entangled, and by his efforts to disengage himself will only tighten the loop and thus render escape impossible. For rats, the noose should be attached to a nail, and the wire similarly ...
— Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making • William Hamilton Gibson

... lines should be sung without any change of position either by the groups or by the individuals. Action should be confined to the hands and the head. When singing the fourth line all should begin to stir, to adjust their pouches, tighten their hold on the wooden hoes and, as if moved by a common impulse, should prepare to go and seek the source of the call. In their going the groups should not fall into one line but each group move by itself. During the refrain the dancers should act as if in doubt which ...
— Indian Games and Dances with Native Songs • Alice C. Fletcher

... risen and had come close to him, her eyes filled with burning tears. Horace felt his throat tighten: for any emotion in this girl affected ...
— From the Valley of the Missing • Grace Miller White

... to draw the bolts upwardly and thus tighten the blocks against the shaft. The free end of the lever has stops (H) above and below, so as to limit its movement. Weights (I) are suspended from ...
— Practical Mechanics for Boys • J. S. Zerbe

... worst part of the whole affair," replied Tom, and even in the dusk I could see the lines of his face tighten. "You know Uncle Lewis was a hard drinker, but he never seemed to show it much. We had been out on the lake in the motor-boat fishing all the afternoon and—well, I must admit both my uncles had had frequent recourse to 'pocket pistols,' and I remember they referred to it each time as 'bait.' Then ...
— The Silent Bullet • Arthur B. Reeve

... fingers tighten feebly as she told How beyond this dismal alley lay a land of shining gold, Where, when all the pain was over,—where, when all the tears were shed,— He would be a white-frocked angel, with a ...
— Poems Teachers Ask For, Book Two • Various

... in the posts run a No. 11 galvanized wire, fasten at one end, tighten at the other end by a wire stretcher and fasten. This will be the middle and lower wire of the trellis, and all that will be needed the first year, when the young vines are trained up a string, tied from the vine (when set) to the wire, and along it. ...
— Manual of American Grape-Growing • U. P. Hedrick

... not—Casey?" She smiled up at him through the dark, a little tremor in her voice. She felt his fingers tighten on hers like bands of steel, crushing them together, and she was conscious of a strange joy in the ...
— Desert Conquest - or, Precious Waters • A. M. Chisholm

... blushed and looked far less determined than I would have liked. But I did my best to glare back and tighten my lips ...
— Tom, Dick and Harry • Talbot Baines Reed

... store of tobacco. He filled it himself, lighted it with a glowing coal, and appeared to be the happiest of quadrumana. It may readily be understood that this similarity of tastes of Jup and Pencroft served to tighten the bonds of friendship which already existed between the honest ape ...
— The Mysterious Island • Jules Verne

... seemed! Had she cried—poor little soul! He looked down at her eyelashes. Her cheek had been of the same colour and texture then. That came back to him too. The impulse to tighten his arms was ...
— The Head of the House of Coombe • Frances Hodgson Burnett

... had almost guessed it. I felt Jack's hand tighten on my arm as the sudden glare fell full upon us, and Hawkesbury's voice cried, "Oh, you fellows, what a start you gave me! I couldn't make out what the talking was. I thought it must ...
— My Friend Smith - A Story of School and City Life • Talbot Baines Reed

... do," growled the hunter in a stern soliloquy as he stopped a moment to tighten his belt. "Well, well, I little thought, Van Dyk, that you'd be brought to such a miserable fix as this, in such a stupid way too. But he mustn't be left to the Bushmen's ...
— The Settler and the Savage • R.M. Ballantyne

... presence of her rival. She might have seen, had she cared to turn her head, a trim, lithe form passing to the rear of the house. Stephen took pains to see her, however, and, as she turned her head, doffed his hat in salute. The next moment Dolly felt the reins tighten, and, whether she desired it or not, found her head turned in that direction. Her rider was soon dismounted and was leading her to the side ...
— The Loyalist - A Story of the American Revolution • James Francis Barrett

... tighten the net which the silly bird has hopped into," rejoined Juve, as he bolted down the stairs, and added as a precautionary measure: "While I question the porter, you slip by me into the main street. I have every reason ...
— The Exploits of Juve - Being the Second of the Series of the "Fantmas" Detective Tales • mile Souvestre and Marcel Allain

... beside him made no answer. He had snatched up the first thing he could find, a fragment of a broken tent-peg, to tighten the ...
— Rosa Mundi and Other Stories • Ethel M. Dell

... heard a shell come shrieking in my direction. With a plunk it fell, and exploded about forty feet away, choking me with sand and half blinding me for about five minutes. The acrid fumes, too, which came from it, seemed to tighten my throat, making respiration very difficult for some ten minutes afterwards. Cautiously looking round, I tried to locate the other scouts, but nowhere could they be seen. I crawled for another thirty ...
— How I Filmed the War - A Record of the Extraordinary Experiences of the Man Who - Filmed the Great Somme Battles, etc. • Lieut. Geoffrey H. Malins

... will reside near your Government in quality of minister plenipotentiary of the French Republic, is especially instructed to tighten these bands of fraternity and mutual benevolence. We hope that he may fulfill this principal object of his mission by a conduct worthy of the confidence of both nations and of the reputation which his patriotism ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 1 (of 3) of Volume 10. • James D. Richardson

... mighty cast. I therefore decided on strategy, and, with this in mind, proceeded, in a leisurely fashion, once more to mark out the circle, which was obliterated in places, to flatten the surface underfoot, to roll up my sleeves, and tighten my belt; in fine, I observed all such precautions as a man might be expected to ...
— The Broad Highway • Jeffery Farnol

... a first-classman. He was doing something for himself one day in a free-and-easy manner, and had no thought of disturbing any one. A yearling corporal, who was passing, saw him, thought he was having too good and soft a time of it, and ordered him out to tighten cords, an act then highly uncalled for, save as a means of hazing. The first-classman happened to come up just as the plebe began to interfere with the cords, and asked him who told him to do that. He told him, and was at once ...
— Henry Ossian Flipper, The Colored Cadet at West Point • Henry Ossian Flipper

... sniffed distantly and with profound suspicion at Fanny and her offerings, and entirely declined to permit Mr. Alexander to estimate her height on the questionable assumption that the point of his chin represented 15'2, but she allowed Johnny to tighten or slacken every buckle in her new and unfamiliar costume ...
— All on the Irish Shore - Irish Sketches • E. Somerville and Martin Ross

... and locked it. Then she returned and, flinging Sylvia down, tried again to tighten the handkerchief, her face white and fierce and her eyes ...
— The Opal Serpent • Fergus Hume

... that held mine tighten its grip in a despairing squeeze. Annabel suddenly raised the branch high above her head with both arms, and displayed Doctor Chantry's hand and mine clasped tenderly in her lap. She laughed until even Miss Chantry was infected, and the doctor tittered and ...
— Lazarre • Mary Hartwell Catherwood

... of healing, when once the herb is known, Shines in shady woods bright as new-sprung flame. Ere the string was tighten'd we heard the mellow tone, After he had taught how the sweet sounds came. Stretch'd about his feet, labour done, 'twas as you see Red pomegranates tumble and burst hard rind. So began contention to give delight ...
— Book of English Verse • Bulchevy

... and covered her with kisses, do you for a moment fancy you could appreciate my feelings? Do you imagine that the little tingle of sympathy which you might experience were I to say that, instead of pushing me from her, I felt her clasp tighten about me,—would tell you anything of the great torrent of hot blood that deluged my heart as she lay there in my arms, quivering ecstatically at every kiss? No! a thousand times no! Therefore have I thought best to say nothing about it. Our love can keep ...
— The Darrow Enigma • Melvin L. Severy

... the small fingers tighten round his, and the small figure shrink a little closer to him, ...
— The Money Moon - A Romance • Jeffery Farnol

... individuals under the relation of neighbors, are so far from tending to a hostile result, that, on the contrary, as coming under a rule of law already ascertained, or furnishing the basis for a new rule, they gradually tighten the cords which exclude all opening for quarrel; not otherwise is the result, and therefore the usefulness, of war amongst nations. All the causes of war, the occasions upon which it is likely to arise, the true and the ostensible motives, are gradually evolved, ...
— Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers • Thomas De Quincey

... How beautiful you are—and how blind! You bandage your eyes, and you tighten the knot. Oh, my God, if I could but open ...
— Max • Katherine Cecil Thurston

... whole minute I did not stir. I was watching—and the wings again began to tighten about the babies, the wild light in the eyes died down, the long, sharp beak turned once ...
— Good Stories For Great Holidays - Arranged for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and for the - Children's Own Reading • Frances Jenkins Olcott

... perfect!" Georgie was looking at the round-bosomed woods beyond the home paddock, where the white pheasant boxes were ranged; and the golden air was full of a hundred sacred scents and sounds. Georgie felt his father's arm tighten in his. ...
— The Day's Work, Volume 1 • Rudyard Kipling

... near to tears when he stooped and knelt in the snow to tighten a thong slipping from one webbed foot. Below them stretched a plain of shimmering frost-points, bounded by inscrutable walls of black timber. Somewhere within the warmer heart of a swamp a fox yapped hungrily; somewhere ...
— Then I'll Come Back to You • Larry Evans

... stretched, and, as we might anticipate, after the contents of the womb are expelled the ligaments hang loosely from its sides, very much as sails hang when a breeze dies down. Immediately after delivery, therefore, the ligaments give the womb little or no support; eventually they shorten and tighten, readily accommodating themselves to the existing conditions. Until the accommodation is perfected, it is especially desirable to permit no pressure which might push the womb backward. It is for this reason that many obstetricians ...
— The Prospective Mother - A Handbook for Women During Pregnancy • J. Morris Slemons

... iron axe or adze of Urua, in Central Africa, a long narrow blade with rounded top and wedge-shaped edge. This tool is either used in the hand like a chisel, or inserted into a conical hole burnt through a tree-branch, and the shape of the aperture makes every blow tighten the hold. The people mount it in two ways, either as an axe in line with, or as an adze at a right angle ...
— To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II - A Personal Narrative • Richard Francis Burton and Verney Lovett Cameron

... weighty gauntlets dwindle into gloves. The plumes that winged the arrow through the sky, Waft to and fro the shuttlecock on high; Two trusty swords are into scissors cross'd, And dinted breastplates are in corsets lost; While dungeon chains to gentler use consigned, Now silken laces, tighten stays behind. ...
— The Hawarden Visitors' Hand-Book - Revised Edition, 1890 • William Henry Gladstone

... preference;" and "the judge of probate shall make a record of all the proceedings," for which he should be entitled to a fee of one dollar in each case, to be paid, as this atrocious law directed, by "the master or mistress." To tighten the grasp of ownership on the minor who was now styled an apprentice, it was enacted in almost the precise phrase of the old slave-code that "whoever shall entice said apprentice from his master of mistress, or furnish food or clothing to him or her, without said consent, shall be fined ...
— Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2 (of 2) • James Gillespie Blaine

... constant use the boy's strength was daily increasing until he was becoming a veritable young giant? With no small satisfaction he beheld the muscles of his arms tighten and stand out; and when he swung his axe and brought down a sturdy sapling it was with a glow of pleasure that he heard it crash to the ground. Certainly there were compensations in hard work! Moreover was ...
— The Story of Silk • Sara Ware Bassett

... hooked the stirrup over the horn so that she could tighten the cinch, the eyes of Robert Grant Burns glistened at the "picture-stuff" she made. He glanced eloquently at Pete, and Pete gave a twisted smile and a pantomime of turning the camera-crank; whereat Robert Grant Burns shook his ...
— Jean of the Lazy A • B. M. Bower

... infinitely solemn at such times, the darling; and there was always something in her low, clear tone, through all her prayings and philosophizings, which was strangely like her mother's voice. Sometimes she paused, as if to ask a question, and at every answer I could see her father's arm tighten. ...
— Oldport Days • Thomas Wentworth Higginson

... of skates. They were shining and beautiful, and when Bobby, with the knowledge of the expert, went hastily into details, he found them all heart could wish for. No effeminate straps about these! but toe-clamps to tighten with a key and a projecting heel lock to insert in a metal socket in the boot's heel. This was the piece de resistance of the stocking. Bobby felt perfunctorily along the outside to assure himself that the usual two oranges and the dollar in the toe were in place; then returned to ...
— The Adventures of Bobby Orde • Stewart Edward White

... girdle is attached a numerous array of beads, shells, and charms. To the other is attached a braided abak cord, also variegated with the proper colors, which enables the wearer to fasten and tighten the girdle. One frequently sees white seed beads in greater or less quantity strung on each cord ...
— The Manbos of Mindano - Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII, First Memoir • John M. Garvan

... that she will find a way at some point. Animals in cages behave in a similar way, looking for a means of escape. In the vineyard I see the grape-vines reaching out blindly in all directions for some hold for their tendrils. The young arms seize upon one another and tighten their hold as if they had at last found what they were in search of. Stop long enough beside one of the vines, and it will cling to you and run ...
— Ways of Nature • John Burroughs

... fisherman baits his line, the fish come round him without suspicion; but when they are caught on the hook concealed in the bait, they feel the line tighten and they try to escape. Is the fisherman a benefactor? Is the fish ungrateful? Do we find a man forgotten by his benefactor, unmindful of that benefactor? On the contrary, he delights to speak of him, he cannot think of him without ...
— Emile • Jean-Jacques Rousseau

... a sound directly above me—a sound which a stick might make in smiting the ground, and I felt that Durnief shuddered. In another instant it came again, and his arms relaxed, but only to tighten about me the more convulsively. Then a short pause, which was followed by the thudding sound of a blow heavier than its predecessors, and instantly following it, the tensioned muscles of Durnief relaxed. His arms fell ...
— Princess Zara • Ross Beeckman

... hardly be said that not one of the boys addressed showed the least intention of carrying out the wishes of the speaker. In fact, to tell the truth, each one of the scouts seemed to tighten ...
— The Banner Boy Scouts on a Tour - The Mystery of Rattlesnake Mountain • George A. Warren

... reel between the third and little fingers of the right hand, and over the point of the forefinger; bring the thread round the needle by the slightest possible motion; bend the needle towards you, and tighten the loop on the left-hand finger, in letting it slip off to form the ...
— Enquire Within Upon Everything - The Great Victorian Domestic Standby • Anonymous

... of the steamer, put a couple of timbers across them, pass a chain under the bow and stern of the sunken hull, and make fast to the timbers. Then I would let the water into the canal-boats, and sink them down to the rails. When I got them down as deep as I could, I would tighten the chains, till they bore taut on the timbers. Do you ...
— Haste and Waste • Oliver Optic

... instantly. One moment she was there; the next had disappeared, the black waters closing over. There was but little evidence of what occurred; only a deeper swell, tossing the raft giddily about for a moment, and causing West to tighten his grip on the girl's hand. She gave utterance to a half-smothered cry, and her body dropped forward as though she would hide the scene from ...
— The Case and The Girl • Randall Parrish

... bed she dimly saw a little mound that might be Elly Precious—it was Elly Precious! The little mound stirred with a curious, nestling sound, and instantly Stefana stirred also and crooned. Even in her sleep she was the little Mother. Miss Theodosia felt her own throat tighten ...
— Miss Theodosia's Heartstrings • Annie Hamilton Donnell

... his companions about "dizzy dolls" and "the little angel in the other seat." This same voice, gruffened in its beard, had told her that ten thousand of the Horde had gone up ahead of them. Then it whispered something that made her hands suddenly tighten and a hot flush sweep through her. She lifted her veil and rose slowly from her seat, as if to rearrange her dress. Casually she looked straight into the faces of the bearded man and his companion in the seat ...
— The Hunted Woman • James Oliver Curwood

... Strain seemed to tighten Kenny's face, but there was no panic in his eyes, no actual glint of fear. "What made you think I'd ...
— The Man the Martians Made • Frank Belknap Long

... fingers of Keith's hand twitch and tighten. Otherwise there was no answer. After a moment she went ...
— Dawn • Eleanor H. Porter

... the penitentiary, or a prison sentence the stakes against which each one played, the role of Larry the Bat, clever as was the make-up and disguise, was fraught now more than ever before with danger and peril. It seemed as though slowly the net was beginning at last to tighten around him. ...
— The Adventures of Jimmie Dale • Frank L. Packard

... the two men jerked their heads up to listen; Tressa felt their arms tighten about her. Through the darkness they strained down the track to the east, ...
— The Return of Blue Pete • Luke Allan

... of the gearing question, it was decided to employ belts instead of the friction-pulleys." Accordingly, Edison installed on the locomotive a system of belting, including an idler-pulley which was used by means of a lever to tighten the main driving-belt, and thus power was applied to the driven axle. This involved some slipping and consequent burning of belts; also, if the belt were prematurely tightened, the burning-out of the armature. This latter event happened ...
— Edison, His Life and Inventions • Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin

... her lithe arm round his neck Tighten, and then drew back, and let her eyes Speak for her, glowing on him, like a bride's On her new lord, her own, ...
— Idylls of the King • Alfred, Lord Tennyson

... loop spread, quick and true, over the head of the Japanese. But, swift though the action was, the Japanese had an instant to prepare himself. His right arm shot up. As Orme, jerking at the rope, tried to tighten the noose, the hand of the Japanese pushed it over his head and it slid over the side into the water. In a few seconds the swift boat had disappeared ...
— The Girl and The Bill - An American Story of Mystery, Romance and Adventure • Bannister Merwin

... lions do. Yes, Carolyn and Doris, you're going to be lions. You are waiting in your lairs, ready to pounce on the unwary hunter. Crouch now, behind that chair. Closer and closer he comes—you act it out, Mr. George, please, that's the way—ever closer, and now your muscles tighten for the spring, and you open your great, wide, red mouths in a ...
— The Hunters • William Morrison

... wharf, and Jake noted how the surf broke upon the end of the sheltering point. Its deep throbbing roar warned him what they might expect when they reached open water, but he went down the steps and helped Dick to tighten some bearing brasses, after which a peon threw down their ropes and the screw began to rattle. With a few puffs of steam from her funnel the launch moved away and presently met the broken swell at the harbor ...
— Brandon of the Engineers • Harold Bindloss

... it Ill let him do it off on me behind provided he doesnt smear all my good drawers O I suppose that cant be helped Ill do the indifferent l or 2 questions Ill know by the answers when hes like that he cant keep a thing back I know every turn in him Ill tighten my bottom well and let out a few smutty words smellrump or lick my shit or the first mad thing comes into my head then Ill suggest about yes O wait now sonny my turn is coming Ill be quite gay and friendly over it O but I was forgetting this bloody pest of a thing pfooh you wouldnt know ...
— Ulysses • James Joyce

... a sharp, upward motion, and a thrill ran up my arm, as I felt the line tighten, and ...
— Burr Junior • G. Manville Fenn

... to her?" he asked, in rather a queer voice; and I realized how much I was at his mercy, as, fascinated, I watched his brown hand tighten on the wheel. If he liked, he could stop "Mascotte" in mid sea, and let me lie at the mercy of the enemy. I could do nothing. Hendrik would obey him, not me. Even Tibe would not seize him by the throat to please me. Tibe likes ...
— The Chauffeur and the Chaperon • C. N. Williamson

... assailing me will now be understood. I could so force Michael's hand that he must kill the King. I was in a position to bid him defiance and tighten my grasp on the crown—not for its own sake, but because the King of Ruritania was to wed the Princess Flavia. What of Sapt and Fritz? Ah! but a man cannot be held to write down in cold blood the wild and black thoughts that storm his brain when an uncontrolled ...
— The Prisoner of Zenda • Anthony Hope

... its mark. He saw the Rajah's hand tighten on the sword-hilt and a deeper shadow pass ...
— The Native Born - or, The Rajah's People • I. A. R. Wylie

... her angrily and I felt my hand tighten on the revolver. "I've a reason to become suspicious," I told her in a voice that I hoped was as mild-mannered as her own. "Because three people have disappeared in the past half-year without a trace, but under circumstances that put me in the middle. All of them, somehow, seem to be involved ...
— Highways in Hiding • George Oliver Smith

... rate, Spot wouldn't work. We paid a hundred and ten dollars for him from the bottom of our sack, and he wouldn't work. He wouldn't even tighten the traces. Steve spoke to him the first time we put him in harness, and he sort of shivered, that was all. Not an ounce on the traces. He just stood still and wobbled, like so much jelly. Steve touched him with the whip. He yelped, but ...
— Lost Face • Jack London

... resolution is immovable. As it was conceived by mistake and perfected by vanity, it is maintained by pride and obstinacy. You well know the hold of those passions on a female mind; and if you attempt to slacken, you will only tighten the knot." ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 348 • Various

... affection of a father, promise me to be ever united in heart and in wish, as indeed you are in my love. I have lived longer than your fathers, I the eldest of all, and thus no doubt God has wished to tighten the bonds of your affection, to accustom you to live in one family and to pay honour to one head. I have loved you all alike, as a father should, without exception or preference. I have disposed of my throne according to the law ...
— CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - JOAN OF NAPLES—1343-1382 • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE

... gazed Alex felt his heart tighten. The westbound Sunset Express was due to take the siding in less than half an hour, to await the Eastern Mail, and at once he saw that if the engineer misjudged the distance in the fog, and ran onto the siding at full speed, there ...
— The Young Railroaders - Tales of Adventure and Ingenuity • Francis Lovell Coombs

... accustomed. Shorty noticed the dog's restlessness and leaned down. His fingers slipped under the strap and wires, then touched the buckle at the side of the head. Jan squirmed nearer and wagged his tail. Each night when they were well on the way, Shorty did this much to help the dog, but he had to tighten the muzzle before William turned the machine from the road to camp for ...
— Prince Jan, St. Bernard • Forrestine C. Hooker

... was a bit surprised, of course, to see James tighten up and set his jaws as he was wont to do before ugly news; but she put it down to astonishment and no more and handed the heart and the chain to James. She knew nought about his gift to Cora, and so when he dropped it, after squinting close at it, ...
— The Torch and Other Tales • Eden Phillpotts

... hardly trace a royal coat-of-arms and a legend running, "Per Mare Per Terrain"—the motto of the marines. Its parchment, though black and scented with wood-smoke, was limp and mildewed; and I began to tighten up the straps—under which the drumsticks had been loosely thrust—with the idle purpose of trying if some music might be got out of the old ...
— The Roll-Call Of The Reef • A. T. Quiller-Couch (AKA "Q.")

... berries. Blanch sour cherries 1/2 minute, in boiling water. Dip in cold water; drain and pack closely into hot sterilized jars. Cover with boiling water or boiling medium syrup. Loosely seal. Sterilize 16 minutes in boiling water bath. Remove jars at once, tighten covers, invert to test ...
— The New Dr. Price Cookbook • Anonymous

... you," wrote Jerome Otway in reply, "but tighten the purse-strings after this, and be not overmuch familiar with Alexander the Little or Daniel the Purblind. Their ways are not mine; ...
— The Crown of Life • George Gissing

... to that, except to suddenly tighten his arms about her. He was not yet at the point where he could make a joke of her illness. She had been too near the Valley of the Shadow ...
— I've Married Marjorie • Margaret Widdemer

... and through. Ross had not learned his knots from the Mississippi sailors for nothing, and as the boat came to the end of its tether and jerked on the line, the boy had the satisfaction of seeing the knot tighten. With the strain off, it was easy to take another half-hitch around the line, and the knot was secure beyond peradventure. He climbed aboard, raised a cheery cry to Anton, and commenced to pull the boat hand over hand along the line of sheets. It was ...
— The Boy with the U. S. Weather Men • Francis William Rolt-Wheeler

... significantly, with her face turned away, looking down into the water. She had taken my arm and drawn me toward the rail. Now I felt her fingers tighten convulsively. In the droop of her head and the tense curve of her neck I sensed her mad impulse which the ...
— The Best Short Stories of 1920 - and the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various

... or even a superior. The attempt to treat a child at adolescence as you would treat an inferior is instantly fatal to good discipline."[2] Parents still think of their offspring as mere children, and tighten the rein when they should loosen it. Many young people feel that they have the best of homes and yet that they will go crazy if they must remain in them. If the training of earlier years has been good, guidance by command may now safely give way to that by ideals, ...
— Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene • G. Stanley Hall

... Before he could tighten his grip came a tremendous shock, and he was flung off the other as if by a giant's hand. As he rolled across the floor, followed a crash as though the very heavens were falling. The whole ship seemed to lift beneath him, at the same time stopping short ...
— On Land And Sea At The Dardanelles • Thomas Charles Bridges

... replied Arneel, "he is in a tight place or is rapidly getting there. This silver agitation is beginning to weaken stocks and tighten money. I suggest that our banks here loan him all the money he wants on call. When the time comes, if he isn't ready, we can shut him up tighter than a drum. If we can pick up any other loans he's made anywhere else, well ...
— The Titan • Theodore Dreiser

... the E[b], E in the male voice, the pyramids cease again to act, and, as before, in the Upper Thick, leave the formation of the sounds to the vocal ligaments alone, which at this change appear again longer and looser, but with every higher tone tighten up to F, F[] in the female voice, and in the male voice to G or as it is commonly written, . In the thin register the voicebox preserves its natural position as ...
— The Mechanism of the Human Voice • Emil Behnke

... voting themselves a drink at my expense, which I must perforce pay, as they had generously acquitted me! I confess to an amiable wish that the dollar I laid on the counter of Cavins for a gallon of whiskey might some day buy the rope to tighten on his craven throat, though I did not deem it wise to give expression to my ...
— Thirteen Months in the Rebel Army • William G. Stevenson

... before us the bright flag is spread, There's a roar from the grand stand, and Tenny's ahead; At the sound of the voices that shouted "a go!" He sprang like an arrow shot straight from the bow. I tighten the reins on Prince Charlie's great son— He is off like a rocket, the race is begun. Half-way down the furlong, their heads are together, Scarce room 'twixt their noses to wedge in a feather; Past grand stand, and judges, in neck-to-neck strife, Ah, Salvator, boy! 'tis the ...
— The Kingdom of Love - and Other Poems • Ella Wheeler Wilcox

... two colleagues exchanged at the Chamber, an "I was expecting you," uttered with a purpose perhaps, the advocate waved the Nabob to the chair near his desk, bade the smug domestic, dressed in black from head to foot, not to "tighten the sack-cloth with the scourge," but to stay away until the bell should ring for him, arranged a few scattered papers, and then, crossing his legs, burying himself in his armchair in the crouching attitude of the man who is making ready to listen, who becomes all ears, he took ...
— The Nabob, Vol. 2 (of 2) • Alphonse Daudet

... battle was a man who knew how to secure the advantages to be derived from a victory. It is said that at the close of this battle when he saw success perching on his banners, he repeated to those around him the old Japanese proverb: "After victory tighten the strings of your helmet."(196) The division of Hidetada joined him after the battle, and he promptly followed up his victory by seizing the castles on his way and taking possession of Kyoto and Osaka. The feudal princes who had stood aloof or opposed him nearly ...
— Japan • David Murray

... until that personal recognition comes. This has been painfully proved too often by those who see a friend suffering unnecessarily, and in the short-sighted attempt to wrench the emotional microscope from his hand, simply cause the hold to tighten and the magnifying power to increase. A careful, steady training of the physique opens the way for a better practice of the wholesome philosophy, and the microscope drops with the relaxation of the external tension which has ...
— Power Through Repose • Annie Payson Call

... Principalities almost as much as the incursions of the barbarians, that are well worthy of our consideration. The first is the tenacity and perseverance with which the Czars, one after the other, sought to tighten their grasp upon the Principalities, with ultimate aims upon Constantinople; the second, the occasional efforts which were made by a few patriots, backed up not so much by the boyards as by the common people, to relieve the country from foreign domination, whether Mussulman, ...
— Roumania Past and Present • James Samuelson

... front edge; (2) the encasing in the cloth of all crosspieces and ribs of the surfaces; (3) a rearrangement of the wires used in trussing the two surfaces together, which rendered it possible to tighten all the wires by simply ...
— A History of Aeronautics • E. Charles Vivian

... interesting part of this wonderful organ is the tympanic membrane, which is provided with muscles for altering its tension automatically. If we are "straining our ears" to catch a shrill sound, we tighten the membrane; while if we are "getting ready" for a deep, loud report like that of a gun, we allow the drum ...
— How it Works • Archibald Williams

... upon his knee. His face did not alter. Facile expression was impossible to that marred visage. Pain or anger or sorrow could no longer write its message there for the casual beholder to read. The thin, twisted remnants of his lips could tighten a little, and that ...
— The Hidden Places • Bertrand W. Sinclair

... in the neighborhood of the Green Grassier on the southern edge of Lens added greatly to the strength of the British line, which continued to tighten steadily about the heart ...
— America's War for Humanity • Thomas Herbert Russell



Words linked to "Tighten" :   bound, trammel, restrain, tauten, screw, tense, compress, frap, narrow, press, wind, throttle, limit, firm, change, restrict, compact, constringe, contract, strain, constrict, modify, reduce, alter, confine, squeeze, wind up, constrain



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