| 释义 |
tightness|ˈtaɪtnɪs|
[f. tight a. + -ness.]
The quality or condition of being tight.
1. Closeness of texture; denseness, solidity (obs.); compactness of structure, impermeability. Also fig.
a1728Woodward (J.), The bones are inflexible, which arises from the greatness of the number of corpuscles that compose them, and the firmness and tightness of their union. 1759Ellis in Phil. Trans. LI. 207 The tightness of the cask would secure them from the salt water. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. viii, Make me as compact a little will as can be reconciled with tightness.
2. a. The condition of being drawn tight, stretched, or strained; tenseness, tautness.
1780New Newgate Cal. V. 152 Placing a fife within the cord so as to twist it to a proper tightness. 1793Beddoes Scurvy 63 It was not occasioned by any tightness of dress. 1869Spurgeon Treas. David Ps. iii. 2 Harp-strings..need to be screwed up again to their proper tightness. 1885Manchester Exam. 7 Oct. 5/2 The very tightness with which the screw is being applied renders the probability of a break⁓down of the machinery more probable.
b. transf. Constriction felt (as in breathing); hardness (of the pulse). Cf. tightened.
1785J. Pearson in Med. Commun. II. 68 A sense of tightness across the chest. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 37 Nothing will relieve the tightness of the chest and the hardness of the cough..better than antimony. 1899Ibid. VI. 49 Diminution in size and increase in tightness of the pulse.
3. The condition of being tipsy. slang.
1861E. Cowell Diary 1 Jan. in Cowells in Amer. (1934) 234, I congratulated him on his remaining free from ‘tightness’ after so many calls. 1864Daily Tel. 4 Oct., At the first blush, the Americans strike a foreigner as being an exceedingly drunken people... You cannot fail to observe an immense amount of ‘tightness’ during your walks abroad.
4. Comm. Scarcity of money in the market.
1847Punch XIII. 77/1 There is a tightness at present in the Omnibus Market. 1858R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma lxvii, In consequence of the tightness of the money-market, an early settlement would be agreeable. 1901Scotsman 7 Mar. 6/2 The tightness of money is again beginning adversely to affect gilt-edged stocks.
5. As an artistic quality: (a) crampedness, lack of freedom, constraint; (b) sense of control, rigorousness.
1933Burlington Mag. Jan. 22/1 The effort to achieve a difficult and unfamiliar piece of modelling gives the penwork a certain tightness. 1959Listener 26 Mar. 542/1 Lack of balance between voice and accompaniment, acoustic ‘tightness’, restricted and uneven frequency-range. 1973Art Internat. Mar. 73/2 Erlebacher's tightness makes her poetic allegories more like kitsch. |