tidyti‧dy1 /ˈtaɪdi/ ●●● S3 adjective (comparative tidier, superlative tidiest) especially British English 
a tidy desk I try to keep the garden tidy. Ellen’s room is always neat and tidy.2someone who is tidy keeps their house, clothes etc neat and clean: Chris is a naturally tidy person.3a tidy sum/profit informal a large amount of money: We sold the house for a tidy sum and moved south.4a tidy mind British English if someone has a tidy mind, the way they think is very organized and clear—tidily adverb—tidiness noun [uncountable]THESAURUStidy British English a place, room etc that is tidy looks nice because everything has been arranged and put in the right place: · a tidy desk· I want to leave the place clean and tidy before we go.neat use this about things that are carefully arranged in a way that is nice to look at: · a neat pile of towels· The room was neat and tidy.immaculate /ɪˈmækjələt/ a place or thing that is immaculate is perfectly clean and neat – use this to emphasize how clean something looks: · Our house was always immaculate.well-kept a well-kept building or garden is very well cared for and looks neat and clean: · a large house on well-kept groundsorderly arranged or organized in a sensible or neat way: · The room was orderly and uncluttered.
WORD ORIGINtidy1
Origin:
1700-1800 tidy ‘at an appropriate time’ (13-18 centuries), from tideEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Andrew's apartment is always so tidy.
- I think the least you could do is keep your own bedroom tidy.
- I want to leave the place nice and tidy before we go.
- My job was to mow the grass and keep the garden looking generally tidy.
- We spent the morning getting the whole house clean and tidy.
- Everything tidy and shipshape and orderly.
- Everything was tidy, clean and obviously proudly cared for.
- He bumbled around for a bit, trying to coil up the string and push the wood into tidy heaps.
- She was a jewel, tidy, competent, and thoughtful, but she should not be spoiled with familiarity.
- She was neat and tidy and always helpful.
- The large mahogany writing desk was immaculately tidy.
- Verisign has already built a tidy business selling two types of digital signatures: personal and site certificates.
- With Janzen shooting a 70, that means Costner and his 16 handicap helped the team a tidy five shots.
THESAURUS
British English a place, room etc that is tidy looks nice because everything has been arranged and put in the right place: · a tidy desk· I want to leave the place clean and tidy before we go.
use this about things that are carefully arranged in a way that is nice to look at: · a neat pile of towels· The room was neat and tidy.
a place or thing that is immaculate is perfectly clean and neat – use this to emphasize how clean something looks: · Our house was always immaculate.
a well-kept building or garden is very well cared for and looks neat and clean: · a large house on well-kept grounds
arranged or organized in a sensible or neat way: · The room was orderly and uncluttered.
Longman Language Activatora tidy place/room/group of things British a place, room etc that is tidy looks nice because everything has been arranged and put in the right place tidy: · Andrew's apartment is always so tidy.· That looks a bit tidier now, doesn't it?· a tidy deskkeep something tidy: · I think the least you could do is keep your own bedroom tidy.· My job was to mow the grass and keep the garden looking generally tidy.clean and tidy/neat and tidy/nice and tidy: · We spent the morning getting the whole house clean and tidy.· I want to leave the place nice and tidy before we go.
use this about things that are carefully arranged or shaped in a way that is nice to look at: · Mrs Woodie cut the sandwiches in neat squares.· The room was neat, though a bit dusty.· Billy's cottage was set back off the road, behind a neat little hedge. neat pile/row: · He put his clothes in a neat pile on the bed.· His jackets were arranged in a neat row in the closet.neat and tidy: · I like to see everything looking neat and tidy.
a place or thing that is immaculate is perfectly clean and neat -- use this to emphasize how clean something looks: · Our house was immaculate, and Mother taught us to be polite and deferential to visitors.· a tiny harbour ringed with immaculate white clapboard housesimmaculate suit/shirt/uniform etc: · He was dressed in an immaculate navy suit and a crisp white shirt.· tall, blond soldiers in immaculate uniforms
a well-kept building or garden is very well cared for and looks neat and clean: · Our old house, now covered with ivy, still looked pretty and well-kept.· Visitors should tour the palace, but don't forget the well-kept grounds -- well worth a visit.
to make a place tidy to make a room, desk, or drawer tidy: · If you're not going to watch the football, you can tidy your room.· I haven't had time to tidy up yet.· I want this whole place tidied before I get back, ok?tidy up something: · You can start tidying up that mess you've made now.· She hung about after work, tidying up her desk.tidy something up: · Will you help me tidy the kitchen up a bit?tidy something away (=put something in the place where you usually keep it): · Come on, let's have these toys tidied away now.tidy up after somebody (=to have to clean a room and put things away after someone has been in there): · Both my sons think mothers are just here to tidy up after them.
American to make a place tidy and clean, by putting things in the right place or arranging them neatly: · Make the bed and straighten up in there.· Kelly, when you're through with your break, would you straighten the office?straighten something up: · The city's janitors went on strike, leaving thousands of workers to straighten their own offices up and empty their own trash.straighten up something: · After the kids have left for school, I straighten up the house.· You're not leaving till you get your room straightened up.
to make a place tidy and clean, by putting things away and removing dust or dirt: · Do you want me to help clean up?clean something up: · Thanks for cleaning the place up -- I really appreciate it.· It took us two or three days to clean it all up.clean up something: · Every time Jasper cooked for me, he would carefully clean up all the pans and plates he'd used.
British to get rid of all the things that are making a place dirty or untidy: · Who's going to clear up after the party?· John's offered to clear up the churchyard this weekend. clear something up: · It'll take ages to clear this up.· It looked as if Marie had already cleared the place up.clear up something: · Someone's got to clear up this mess!· Wait for me, I just need to clear up my desk.clear up after somebody (=tidy a place after someone else has made it untidy): · I spend my life clearing up after the children.
to put things away neatly in order to make a place tidy: pick up something: · Could you pick up the newspapers and magazines for me?pick something up: · Help me pick these things up. We have company coming.pick up after somebody (=put away things that someone else has used) especially American: · I feel like I spend all my time picking up after the kids.
British informal to tidy a place and put everything where it should be: · I like to get the house straight while the kids are at the youth club.· One of these days I'll get this garage straight.
especially British to organize something that is mixed up or untidy: sort something out: · I'm going to sit down quietly one day and sort my CDs out.sort out something: · I need to sort out the food cupboard, and make a shopping list.· We've got to sort out all our stuff to take home tonight.
words for describing someone who always likes to keep things tidy someone who is neat or tidy always like to keep things in their right place: · I've never been very neat but my husband is just the opposite.· Malcolm's always been tidy, even as a kid.
British someone, especially a woman, who is houseproud wants their home to always look extremely clean and tidy, and spends a lot of time keeping it like this: · She has a reputation for being very houseproud.· Elaine's houseproud ways got on his nerves, but it was better than living alone.
American spoken someone who always wants their things and their house to be very neat and clean, in a way that other people find annoying: · Melissa is a neat freak and Doug is kind of a slob, so the two of them are always fighting.
someone who looks tidy someone who has a neat appearance because of the type of clothes they are wearing: · I rang the bell, and a neatly dressed maid answered the door. · She was in her mid-forties, neatly dressed with a quiet air of authority.
looking perfectly neat and clean, because you take a lot of care about your clothes, your hair etc: · Leonardo appeared, immaculate as ever in a dark suit and tie. · She was always elegantly dressed and absolutely immaculate.· A small but immaculate figure stood in the doorway.
a man who is clean-cut looks neat and clean: · a handsome, clean-cut man· Where Clinton was rugged and earthy, Gore is clean-cut and preppy.
to have a very neat appearance: · He sat at his desk, not a hair out of place, and turning a pencil over in his hand.· He seemed stern and austere and never had a hair out of place.
tidy work/writing work or writing that is neat has been done very carefully: · Gina has very small neat handwriting.· Draw a rough diagram -- it doesn't have to be very neat.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY I try to keep the garden tidy. Ellen’s room is always neat and tidy.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Keep your room tidy. Everything in the house was neat and tidy.
I try to keep the garden tidy. Ellen’s room is always neat and tidy. especially BrE:· I insist my children keep their rooms clean and tidy.
· How come your desk is always so tidy?
· I need to tidy my desk.
British English (also neat American English)· The hotel is set in a well-kept garden.
Keep your room tidy. Everything in the house was neat and tidy. (=big)· By the second year, the restaurant began to make a healthy profit.
informal (=a large amount of money)· I had managed to save a tidy sum.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· The waves have no purposes and no intentions, no tidy mind, no mind at all.· So tidy minds in the West have been thinking of ways to keep the process under control.· Henry had a tidy mind, and he was practical.
· Nevertheless that blip was long enough for some one to make a tidy profit.· He has sold no less than five cars, each one at a tidy profit.· Until now they have made a tidy profit from selling re-issued pop hits from the fifties, sixties and seventies.
· Even allowing for what they would have lost on laundering the proceeds, there should have been a tidy sum.· Chief Auctioneer, Michael Welch, suggests that silver, brass or other trinkets could well fetch a tidy sum.· Would we be right in thinking, a tidy sum?· And, if my memory serves me right, you stand to rake in a tidy sum on that.· These represented a tidy sum, not a great fortune but enough for her to be comfortably off.· Still, I should be coming in for a tidy sum of compensation.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1a room, house, desk etc that is tidy is neatly arranged with everything in the right place SYN neat OPP untidy, messy: - In 1899, the mansion cost the tidy sum of $350,000.
- And, if my memory serves me right, you stand to rake in a tidy sum on that.
- Chief Auctioneer, Michael Welch, suggests that silver, brass or other trinkets could well fetch a tidy sum.
- Even allowing for what they would have lost on laundering the proceeds, there should have been a tidy sum.
- He has sold no less than five cars, each one at a tidy profit.
- Nevertheless that blip was long enough for some one to make a tidy profit.
- These represented a tidy sum, not a great fortune but enough for her to be comfortably off.
- Until now they have made a tidy profit from selling re-issued pop hits from the fifties, sixties and seventies.
- Would we be right in thinking, a tidy sum?
- Henry had a tidy mind, and he was practical.
a tidy desk I try to keep the garden tidy. Ellen’s room is always neat and tidy.2someone who is tidy keeps their house, clothes etc neat and clean: Chris is a naturally tidy person.3a tidy sum/profit informal a large amount of money: We sold the house for a tidy sum and moved south.4a tidy mind British English if someone has a tidy mind, the way they think is very organized and clear—tidily adverb—tidiness noun [uncountable]THESAURUStidy British English a place, room etc that is tidy looks nice because everything has been arranged and put in the right place: · a tidy desk· I want to leave the place clean and tidy before we go.neat use this about things that are carefully arranged in a way that is nice to look at: · a neat pile of towels· The room was neat and tidy.immaculate /ɪˈmækjələt/ a place or thing that is immaculate is perfectly clean and neat – use this to emphasize how clean something looks: · Our house was always immaculate.well-kept a well-kept building or garden is very well cared for and looks neat and clean: · a large house on well-kept groundsorderly arranged or organized in a sensible or neat way: · The room was orderly and uncluttered.