Definition of taut in English:

taut

adjective tɔːttɔt

1Stretched or pulled tight; not slack.
the fabric stays taut without adhesive
Example sentencesExamples
- The wind whipped at her skirt pulling the material taut across her calves and thighs, outlining her shape as the marble of a statue.
- Above a carefully cut animal skin, an arc of wood is stretched taut by a rope.
- The forests were low, and the land stretched tight like taut buffalo skin.
- Another piece, In Other Circumstances, consists of three immense curtains made of white paper squares joined with fishing gut, and stretched taut between floor and ceiling.
- It's the kind that gets to looking like a huge green bubble of taut membrane, stretched to the limit, with redness that radiates outward.
- Pull the knot taut, close to your head, and wrap the ends around the bun, securing with pins.
- Hempshaw was like a rope stretched taut with a full grown steer pulling at it.
- In the rains it is stretched taut like an elastic band about to snap.
- Thankfully an eardrum is a flexible tissue stretched taut over the inner ear.
- Note: the under the coat method adds stability but the weight of the coat pulls the scarf taut and threatens asphyxiation.
- On the stage a white sheet, stretched taut over several room dividers, served as a screen.
- Of course, the sun's rays were needed to make the mulberry paper taut and fully stretched.
- Then you do a final stitch way into the wadding, pull the thread taut and clip the end just above the surface.
- Its bagginess on the scrawny Pope's shoulders contrasts with the taut, nailed-down stretch of the upholstered velvet of his chair.
- If he has chosen the vines well, they will pull taut and stretch like a natural bungee cord, just enough to gently arrest his fall.
- They would dance towards each other, each holding a sheet end, then back away, pulling the sheet taut between them, then advance again, and so on.
- The other hand must act as a co-pilot; use it to pull the skin taut and stretched.
- Then the glue was applied to the bottom EPS foam strip and gently pulled taut and glued into place allowing the cut strips to stretch suspended over the black background.
- The aerial is stretched taut over the back of the sofa towards the TV.
- The next one on the thrill list is the catapult: you are attached to a rope that is stretched taut and then released.
Synonyms
tight, tightly stretched, stretched, rigid, stressed, not slack, not loose
1. 1.1 (especially of muscles or nerves) tense; not relaxed.
  my voice was taut with anger
  Example sentencesExamples
  The fledgling's breathing and heartbeat slowed, taut muscles went slack, and his third eyelids slid halfway across his bright gaze.
  She's convinced that no matter how hard she works out, the skin that covers her taut biceps is growing daily more slack and wrinkly.
  The taut muscles of his face have relaxed, and he speaks with a confidence that is inspiring.
  The ad starts off by focusing on the taut abs of three pretty ladies.
  His strong hands rested on her shoulders and began working the taut muscles, causing her to immediately tense.
  Relaxing his taut muscles and his wary expression, Sean sighed and gave her what he hoped to be a somewhat friendly look.
  Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov will be suspended on wires above a string quartet playing Tchaikovsky for a whole nine minutes while the audience gasp and marvel at those taut muscles and lean limbs.
  It had great muscular arms, and powerful legs supported a thick body covered with taut muscle.
  My eyes were tight shut but streaming tears, and I felt my face set into taut muscles and tense lines.
  It started with a back massage that loosened up my taut muscles and prepared me for the ultimate indulgence of letting go.
  Therapeutic massage may also loosen taut muscles and calm frazzled nerves.
  He said it was tense on board, people were jumpy and nerves were taut.
  Nerves were taut and bodies turned and twisted under the scratchy blankets.
  She is a handsome woman - thin lips, taut facial muscles - who never lost her poise at her husband's funeral.
  I recommend a day by the waves to anyone who's fraying their last taut nerve.
  And so he made his way to the bench in where he sat down and relaxed his taut muscles.
  Trigger points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle.
  Normally, at times likes these, Montgomerie's nerves are so taut that it would be possible to play a guitar solo on them.
  As we cross each intersection, our nerves are taut with anxiety, not knowing who or what is down the next street.
  The Viking's huge muscles were nearly as taut as the bowstring itself as he strained in bringing it back into firing position.
  Synonyms
  flexed, tensed, tightened, hard, solid, firm, rigid, stiff, unyielding
  fraught, strained, stressed, tense, drawn, drained, sapped, fatigued, tired
  informal uptight
2. 1.2 (of writing, music, etc.) concise and controlled.
  a taut text of only a hundred and twenty pages
  Example sentencesExamples
  It translates in 2005 because this corner of music was always about nostalgia and taut drama constructed with tightly circumscribed language.
  Director Ryan Redford skilfully employs music, sound and montage to create a taut film.
  Though there's plenty of brutal, taut music to be found on the record, more often than not, it's filmic, evocative, and remarkably organic.
  A taut screenplay, tight editing and, overall, a theme which takes off from real life, are what our films lack today.
  The dances are exotic, taut, unusual and unpredictable but entirely controlled and elegant, sleek, streamlined.
  At times his writing seems more like taut, elegant journalism than literary fiction.
  The navigation is taut and the controls make perfect sense.
  But for the most part the music is taut, suffused with a ragged but determined power that has few equals among their contemporaries.
  In no time at all you'll be able to produce lots of taut, pertinent, orthographically enhanced web text, and all with only one hand.
  Shot in a realistic mode inspired by the agitprop classic The Battle of Algiers, Bloody Sunday is taut, terse and livid.
  The film is taut and compact, and roughly a third of it plays out inside the cab as Max and Vincent traverse the city.
  The writing is taut; but it reads like a boring history textbook in places.
  The subject matter of the novel, which is written in a taut, controlled, colloquial yet poetic prose, is highly autobiographical.
  Greatly influenced by DC hardcore forebears like Fugazi, QANU's music bristled with taut, pointed rhythms and impassioned verse.
  Some judicious editorial pruning would have made the novel less uneven and the text more taut.
  Ellis' script is taut, sharp and resonant, like piano wire.
  It was tough, tight and ultimately taut with tension throughout with neither side willing to risk anything.
  It is a superb piece of writing, and under Ross Manson's taut direction, Volcano gives it a thrilling production.
  All of which adds up to superb straight line stability, taut handling through curves, improved roll control and a prodigious ability to soak up bumps and smooth out potholes.
  With her taut writing, she never once fails to convey the emotional intensity of her characters' lives.
  Synonyms
  concise, controlled, crisp, pithy, sharp, succinct, compact, terse
3. 1.3 (of a ship) having a disciplined and efficient crew.
  his language was salty and he ran a taut ship
  Example sentencesExamples
  A taut ship is a happy ship.
  Synonyms
  orderly, in order, in good order, in good condition, tight, trim, neat, well ordered, well regulated, well disciplined, tidy, spruce, smart, shipshape (and Bristol fashion)

Derivatives

tauten

verb ˈtɔːt(ə)nˈtɔt(ə)n

1Make or become tight or tense.
with object masks tauten and cleanse the complete face
1. 1.1with object Make (writing, music, etc.) more concise and controlled.
Example sentencesExamples
- no object they stand straighter, their muscles tauten
- Ali's nerves tautened as he noted that the hall was silent.
- This atmospheric thriller, shot almost entirely at night, tautens the suspense like rough hands around a little boy's neck.
- Apprenticeship as a sub-editor and reporter pared and tautened his prose.
- apprenticeship as a reporter pared and tautened his prose

tautly

adverb ˈtɔːtliˈtɔtli

The symphony is played tautly; the introduction is broad and menacing, but the first movement proper (no exposition repeat) is done with grim fire.
Example sentencesExamples
- This tautly wrought dénouement to Dipped in Shadow serves as the foundation for Harris's latest volume, She, a novel in poetry about the depths of a woman's consciousness.
- The ensuing investigation is described as a twisting, suspenseful character-study, tautly written to conceal a surprise ending.
- Leinsdorf shows unwonted impetuosity in his approach to tempos, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, while not consistently as refined as it could be, plays the music tautly.
- These tautly stretched lines consist of single strands of horsehair, arranged in an elegant composition that brings to mind the great horizontal tableaux of Barnett Newman.

tautness

noun ˈtɔːtnəsˈtɔtnəs

What you miss is tautness, and the tingling sense of teetering on the precipice, which might have been achieved with some cuts and tighter editing.
Example sentencesExamples
- The structure of the stretcher, the tautness of the canvas and the transparency of the paint contribute to the total effect.
- Men have so often been associated with tautness and tightness, moving briskly in tubular clothes like robots coated in cloth.
- Heavens, that seal consists of enough flourishes and curlicues to amaze the eye - yet that design also contains within it tremendous tautness and discipline, as a piece of design.
- The idea is to create resistance between the hips and shoulders so there is a lot of tautness, like a stretched rubber band.

Origin

Middle English tought 'distended', perhaps originally a variant of tough.

tough from Old English:
An Old English word related to taut (Middle English) the early spelling of which was tought. As a noun, meaning ‘a rough and violent man or youth’, it dates from the 1860s, in the USA. If you are as tough as old boots you are very sturdy or resilient. The earliest version of the phrase was as tough as leather. Before he became the British prime minister or even party leader, Tony Blair made a speech at the Labour Party Conference in September 1993, when he was Shadow Home Secretary. The speech brought him to public attention and included the words: ‘Labour is the party of law and order in Britain today. Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime’.

Rhymes

abort, apport, assort, athwart, aught, besought, bethought, bort, bought, brought, caught, cavort, comport, consort, contort, Cort, court, distraught, escort, exhort, export, extort, fort, fought, fraught, import, methought, misreport, mort, naught, nought, Oort, ought, outfought, port, Porte, purport, quart, rort, short, snort, sort, sought, sport, support, swart, taught, thought, thwart, tort, transport, wart, wrought

Definition of taut in US English:

taut

adjectivetɔttôt

1Stretched or pulled tight; not slack.
the fabric stays taut without adhesive
Example sentencesExamples
- Then you do a final stitch way into the wadding, pull the thread taut and clip the end just above the surface.
- Pull the knot taut, close to your head, and wrap the ends around the bun, securing with pins.
- Another piece, In Other Circumstances, consists of three immense curtains made of white paper squares joined with fishing gut, and stretched taut between floor and ceiling.
- On the stage a white sheet, stretched taut over several room dividers, served as a screen.
- Of course, the sun's rays were needed to make the mulberry paper taut and fully stretched.
- The aerial is stretched taut over the back of the sofa towards the TV.
- The other hand must act as a co-pilot; use it to pull the skin taut and stretched.
- If he has chosen the vines well, they will pull taut and stretch like a natural bungee cord, just enough to gently arrest his fall.
- The forests were low, and the land stretched tight like taut buffalo skin.
- Its bagginess on the scrawny Pope's shoulders contrasts with the taut, nailed-down stretch of the upholstered velvet of his chair.
- In the rains it is stretched taut like an elastic band about to snap.
- Note: the under the coat method adds stability but the weight of the coat pulls the scarf taut and threatens asphyxiation.
- Thankfully an eardrum is a flexible tissue stretched taut over the inner ear.
- They would dance towards each other, each holding a sheet end, then back away, pulling the sheet taut between them, then advance again, and so on.
- Above a carefully cut animal skin, an arc of wood is stretched taut by a rope.
- Hempshaw was like a rope stretched taut with a full grown steer pulling at it.
- The wind whipped at her skirt pulling the material taut across her calves and thighs, outlining her shape as the marble of a statue.
- Then the glue was applied to the bottom EPS foam strip and gently pulled taut and glued into place allowing the cut strips to stretch suspended over the black background.
- It's the kind that gets to looking like a huge green bubble of taut membrane, stretched to the limit, with redness that radiates outward.
- The next one on the thrill list is the catapult: you are attached to a rope that is stretched taut and then released.
Synonyms
tight, tightly stretched, stretched, rigid, stressed, not slack, not loose
1. 1.1 (especially of muscles or nerves) tense; not relaxed.
  my voice was taut with anger
  Example sentencesExamples
  Nerves were taut and bodies turned and twisted under the scratchy blankets.
  Trigger points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle.
  The taut muscles of his face have relaxed, and he speaks with a confidence that is inspiring.
  And so he made his way to the bench in where he sat down and relaxed his taut muscles.
  His strong hands rested on her shoulders and began working the taut muscles, causing her to immediately tense.
  The ad starts off by focusing on the taut abs of three pretty ladies.
  The fledgling's breathing and heartbeat slowed, taut muscles went slack, and his third eyelids slid halfway across his bright gaze.
  As we cross each intersection, our nerves are taut with anxiety, not knowing who or what is down the next street.
  Therapeutic massage may also loosen taut muscles and calm frazzled nerves.
  My eyes were tight shut but streaming tears, and I felt my face set into taut muscles and tense lines.
  He said it was tense on board, people were jumpy and nerves were taut.
  It started with a back massage that loosened up my taut muscles and prepared me for the ultimate indulgence of letting go.
  Relaxing his taut muscles and his wary expression, Sean sighed and gave her what he hoped to be a somewhat friendly look.
  The Viking's huge muscles were nearly as taut as the bowstring itself as he strained in bringing it back into firing position.
  It had great muscular arms, and powerful legs supported a thick body covered with taut muscle.
  Normally, at times likes these, Montgomerie's nerves are so taut that it would be possible to play a guitar solo on them.
  Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov will be suspended on wires above a string quartet playing Tchaikovsky for a whole nine minutes while the audience gasp and marvel at those taut muscles and lean limbs.
  She's convinced that no matter how hard she works out, the skin that covers her taut biceps is growing daily more slack and wrinkly.
  She is a handsome woman - thin lips, taut facial muscles - who never lost her poise at her husband's funeral.
  I recommend a day by the waves to anyone who's fraying their last taut nerve.
  Synonyms
  flexed, tensed, tightened, hard, solid, firm, rigid, stiff, unyielding
  fraught, strained, stressed, tense, drawn, drained, sapped, fatigued, tired
2. 1.2 (of writing, music, etc.) concise and controlled.
  a taut text of only a hundred and twenty pages
  Example sentencesExamples
  The film is taut and compact, and roughly a third of it plays out inside the cab as Max and Vincent traverse the city.
  The writing is taut; but it reads like a boring history textbook in places.
  Director Ryan Redford skilfully employs music, sound and montage to create a taut film.
  A taut screenplay, tight editing and, overall, a theme which takes off from real life, are what our films lack today.
  It is a superb piece of writing, and under Ross Manson's taut direction, Volcano gives it a thrilling production.
  All of which adds up to superb straight line stability, taut handling through curves, improved roll control and a prodigious ability to soak up bumps and smooth out potholes.
  The dances are exotic, taut, unusual and unpredictable but entirely controlled and elegant, sleek, streamlined.
  The subject matter of the novel, which is written in a taut, controlled, colloquial yet poetic prose, is highly autobiographical.
  But for the most part the music is taut, suffused with a ragged but determined power that has few equals among their contemporaries.
  With her taut writing, she never once fails to convey the emotional intensity of her characters' lives.
  Though there's plenty of brutal, taut music to be found on the record, more often than not, it's filmic, evocative, and remarkably organic.
  It translates in 2005 because this corner of music was always about nostalgia and taut drama constructed with tightly circumscribed language.
  The navigation is taut and the controls make perfect sense.
  It was tough, tight and ultimately taut with tension throughout with neither side willing to risk anything.
  At times his writing seems more like taut, elegant journalism than literary fiction.
  In no time at all you'll be able to produce lots of taut, pertinent, orthographically enhanced web text, and all with only one hand.
  Greatly influenced by DC hardcore forebears like Fugazi, QANU's music bristled with taut, pointed rhythms and impassioned verse.
  Shot in a realistic mode inspired by the agitprop classic The Battle of Algiers, Bloody Sunday is taut, terse and livid.
  Some judicious editorial pruning would have made the novel less uneven and the text more taut.
  Ellis' script is taut, sharp and resonant, like piano wire.
  Synonyms
  concise, controlled, crisp, pithy, sharp, succinct, compact, terse
3. 1.3 (of a ship) having a disciplined and efficient crew.
  his language was salty and he ran a taut ship
  Example sentencesExamples
  A taut ship is a happy ship.
  Synonyms
  orderly, in order, in good order, in good condition, tight, trim, neat, well ordered, well regulated, well disciplined, tidy, spruce, smart, shipshape, shipshape and bristol fashion

Origin

Middle English tought ‘distended’, perhaps originally a variant of tough.

单词	taut
释义	Definition of taut in English: taut adjective tɔːttɔt 1Stretched or pulled tight; not slack. the fabric stays taut without adhesive Example sentencesExamples The wind whipped at her skirt pulling the material taut across her calves and thighs, outlining her shape as the marble of a statue. Above a carefully cut animal skin, an arc of wood is stretched taut by a rope. The forests were low, and the land stretched tight like taut buffalo skin. Another piece, In Other Circumstances, consists of three immense curtains made of white paper squares joined with fishing gut, and stretched taut between floor and ceiling. It's the kind that gets to looking like a huge green bubble of taut membrane, stretched to the limit, with redness that radiates outward. Pull the knot taut, close to your head, and wrap the ends around the bun, securing with pins. Hempshaw was like a rope stretched taut with a full grown steer pulling at it. In the rains it is stretched taut like an elastic band about to snap. Thankfully an eardrum is a flexible tissue stretched taut over the inner ear. Note: the under the coat method adds stability but the weight of the coat pulls the scarf taut and threatens asphyxiation. On the stage a white sheet, stretched taut over several room dividers, served as a screen. Of course, the sun's rays were needed to make the mulberry paper taut and fully stretched. Then you do a final stitch way into the wadding, pull the thread taut and clip the end just above the surface. Its bagginess on the scrawny Pope's shoulders contrasts with the taut, nailed-down stretch of the upholstered velvet of his chair. If he has chosen the vines well, they will pull taut and stretch like a natural bungee cord, just enough to gently arrest his fall. They would dance towards each other, each holding a sheet end, then back away, pulling the sheet taut between them, then advance again, and so on. The other hand must act as a co-pilot; use it to pull the skin taut and stretched. Then the glue was applied to the bottom EPS foam strip and gently pulled taut and glued into place allowing the cut strips to stretch suspended over the black background. The aerial is stretched taut over the back of the sofa towards the TV. The next one on the thrill list is the catapult: you are attached to a rope that is stretched taut and then released. Synonyms tight, tightly stretched, stretched, rigid, stressed, not slack, not loose 1.1 (especially of muscles or nerves) tense; not relaxed. my voice was taut with anger Example sentencesExamples The fledgling's breathing and heartbeat slowed, taut muscles went slack, and his third eyelids slid halfway across his bright gaze. She's convinced that no matter how hard she works out, the skin that covers her taut biceps is growing daily more slack and wrinkly. The taut muscles of his face have relaxed, and he speaks with a confidence that is inspiring. The ad starts off by focusing on the taut abs of three pretty ladies. His strong hands rested on her shoulders and began working the taut muscles, causing her to immediately tense. Relaxing his taut muscles and his wary expression, Sean sighed and gave her what he hoped to be a somewhat friendly look. Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov will be suspended on wires above a string quartet playing Tchaikovsky for a whole nine minutes while the audience gasp and marvel at those taut muscles and lean limbs. It had great muscular arms, and powerful legs supported a thick body covered with taut muscle. My eyes were tight shut but streaming tears, and I felt my face set into taut muscles and tense lines. It started with a back massage that loosened up my taut muscles and prepared me for the ultimate indulgence of letting go. Therapeutic massage may also loosen taut muscles and calm frazzled nerves. He said it was tense on board, people were jumpy and nerves were taut. Nerves were taut and bodies turned and twisted under the scratchy blankets. She is a handsome woman - thin lips, taut facial muscles - who never lost her poise at her husband's funeral. I recommend a day by the waves to anyone who's fraying their last taut nerve. And so he made his way to the bench in where he sat down and relaxed his taut muscles. Trigger points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle. Normally, at times likes these, Montgomerie's nerves are so taut that it would be possible to play a guitar solo on them. As we cross each intersection, our nerves are taut with anxiety, not knowing who or what is down the next street. The Viking's huge muscles were nearly as taut as the bowstring itself as he strained in bringing it back into firing position. Synonyms flexed, tensed, tightened, hard, solid, firm, rigid, stiff, unyielding fraught, strained, stressed, tense, drawn, drained, sapped, fatigued, tired informal uptight 1.2 (of writing, music, etc.) concise and controlled. a taut text of only a hundred and twenty pages Example sentencesExamples It translates in 2005 because this corner of music was always about nostalgia and taut drama constructed with tightly circumscribed language. Director Ryan Redford skilfully employs music, sound and montage to create a taut film. Though there's plenty of brutal, taut music to be found on the record, more often than not, it's filmic, evocative, and remarkably organic. A taut screenplay, tight editing and, overall, a theme which takes off from real life, are what our films lack today. The dances are exotic, taut, unusual and unpredictable but entirely controlled and elegant, sleek, streamlined. At times his writing seems more like taut, elegant journalism than literary fiction. The navigation is taut and the controls make perfect sense. But for the most part the music is taut, suffused with a ragged but determined power that has few equals among their contemporaries. In no time at all you'll be able to produce lots of taut, pertinent, orthographically enhanced web text, and all with only one hand. Shot in a realistic mode inspired by the agitprop classic The Battle of Algiers, Bloody Sunday is taut, terse and livid. The film is taut and compact, and roughly a third of it plays out inside the cab as Max and Vincent traverse the city. The writing is taut; but it reads like a boring history textbook in places. The subject matter of the novel, which is written in a taut, controlled, colloquial yet poetic prose, is highly autobiographical. Greatly influenced by DC hardcore forebears like Fugazi, QANU's music bristled with taut, pointed rhythms and impassioned verse. Some judicious editorial pruning would have made the novel less uneven and the text more taut. Ellis' script is taut, sharp and resonant, like piano wire. It was tough, tight and ultimately taut with tension throughout with neither side willing to risk anything. It is a superb piece of writing, and under Ross Manson's taut direction, Volcano gives it a thrilling production. All of which adds up to superb straight line stability, taut handling through curves, improved roll control and a prodigious ability to soak up bumps and smooth out potholes. With her taut writing, she never once fails to convey the emotional intensity of her characters' lives. Synonyms concise, controlled, crisp, pithy, sharp, succinct, compact, terse 1.3 (of a ship) having a disciplined and efficient crew. his language was salty and he ran a taut ship Example sentencesExamples A taut ship is a happy ship. Synonyms orderly, in order, in good order, in good condition, tight, trim, neat, well ordered, well regulated, well disciplined, tidy, spruce, smart, shipshape (and Bristol fashion) Derivatives tauten verb ˈtɔːt(ə)nˈtɔt(ə)n 1Make or become tight or tense. with object masks tauten and cleanse the complete face 1.1with object Make (writing, music, etc.) more concise and controlled. Example sentencesExamples no object they stand straighter, their muscles tauten Ali's nerves tautened as he noted that the hall was silent. This atmospheric thriller, shot almost entirely at night, tautens the suspense like rough hands around a little boy's neck. Apprenticeship as a sub-editor and reporter pared and tautened his prose. apprenticeship as a reporter pared and tautened his prose tautly adverb ˈtɔːtliˈtɔtli The symphony is played tautly; the introduction is broad and menacing, but the first movement proper (no exposition repeat) is done with grim fire. Example sentencesExamples This tautly wrought dénouement to Dipped in Shadow serves as the foundation for Harris's latest volume, She, a novel in poetry about the depths of a woman's consciousness. The ensuing investigation is described as a twisting, suspenseful character-study, tautly written to conceal a surprise ending. Leinsdorf shows unwonted impetuosity in his approach to tempos, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, while not consistently as refined as it could be, plays the music tautly. These tautly stretched lines consist of single strands of horsehair, arranged in an elegant composition that brings to mind the great horizontal tableaux of Barnett Newman. tautness noun ˈtɔːtnəsˈtɔtnəs What you miss is tautness, and the tingling sense of teetering on the precipice, which might have been achieved with some cuts and tighter editing. Example sentencesExamples The structure of the stretcher, the tautness of the canvas and the transparency of the paint contribute to the total effect. Men have so often been associated with tautness and tightness, moving briskly in tubular clothes like robots coated in cloth. Heavens, that seal consists of enough flourishes and curlicues to amaze the eye - yet that design also contains within it tremendous tautness and discipline, as a piece of design. The idea is to create resistance between the hips and shoulders so there is a lot of tautness, like a stretched rubber band. Origin Middle English tought 'distended', perhaps originally a variant of tough. tough from Old English: An Old English word related to taut (Middle English) the early spelling of which was tought. As a noun, meaning ‘a rough and violent man or youth’, it dates from the 1860s, in the USA. If you are as tough as old boots you are very sturdy or resilient. The earliest version of the phrase was as tough as leather. Before he became the British prime minister or even party leader, Tony Blair made a speech at the Labour Party Conference in September 1993, when he was Shadow Home Secretary. The speech brought him to public attention and included the words: ‘Labour is the party of law and order in Britain today. Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime’. Rhymes abort, apport, assort, athwart, aught, besought, bethought, bort, bought, brought, caught, cavort, comport, consort, contort, Cort, court, distraught, escort, exhort, export, extort, fort, fought, fraught, import, methought, misreport, mort, naught, nought, Oort, ought, outfought, port, Porte, purport, quart, rort, short, snort, sort, sought, sport, support, swart, taught, thought, thwart, tort, transport, wart, wrought Definition of taut in US English: taut adjectivetɔttôt 1Stretched or pulled tight; not slack. the fabric stays taut without adhesive Example sentencesExamples Then you do a final stitch way into the wadding, pull the thread taut and clip the end just above the surface. Pull the knot taut, close to your head, and wrap the ends around the bun, securing with pins. Another piece, In Other Circumstances, consists of three immense curtains made of white paper squares joined with fishing gut, and stretched taut between floor and ceiling. On the stage a white sheet, stretched taut over several room dividers, served as a screen. Of course, the sun's rays were needed to make the mulberry paper taut and fully stretched. The aerial is stretched taut over the back of the sofa towards the TV. The other hand must act as a co-pilot; use it to pull the skin taut and stretched. If he has chosen the vines well, they will pull taut and stretch like a natural bungee cord, just enough to gently arrest his fall. The forests were low, and the land stretched tight like taut buffalo skin. Its bagginess on the scrawny Pope's shoulders contrasts with the taut, nailed-down stretch of the upholstered velvet of his chair. In the rains it is stretched taut like an elastic band about to snap. Note: the under the coat method adds stability but the weight of the coat pulls the scarf taut and threatens asphyxiation. Thankfully an eardrum is a flexible tissue stretched taut over the inner ear. They would dance towards each other, each holding a sheet end, then back away, pulling the sheet taut between them, then advance again, and so on. Above a carefully cut animal skin, an arc of wood is stretched taut by a rope. Hempshaw was like a rope stretched taut with a full grown steer pulling at it. The wind whipped at her skirt pulling the material taut across her calves and thighs, outlining her shape as the marble of a statue. Then the glue was applied to the bottom EPS foam strip and gently pulled taut and glued into place allowing the cut strips to stretch suspended over the black background. It's the kind that gets to looking like a huge green bubble of taut membrane, stretched to the limit, with redness that radiates outward. The next one on the thrill list is the catapult: you are attached to a rope that is stretched taut and then released. Synonyms tight, tightly stretched, stretched, rigid, stressed, not slack, not loose 1.1 (especially of muscles or nerves) tense; not relaxed. my voice was taut with anger Example sentencesExamples Nerves were taut and bodies turned and twisted under the scratchy blankets. Trigger points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle. The taut muscles of his face have relaxed, and he speaks with a confidence that is inspiring. And so he made his way to the bench in where he sat down and relaxed his taut muscles. His strong hands rested on her shoulders and began working the taut muscles, causing her to immediately tense. The ad starts off by focusing on the taut abs of three pretty ladies. The fledgling's breathing and heartbeat slowed, taut muscles went slack, and his third eyelids slid halfway across his bright gaze. As we cross each intersection, our nerves are taut with anxiety, not knowing who or what is down the next street. Therapeutic massage may also loosen taut muscles and calm frazzled nerves. My eyes were tight shut but streaming tears, and I felt my face set into taut muscles and tense lines. He said it was tense on board, people were jumpy and nerves were taut. It started with a back massage that loosened up my taut muscles and prepared me for the ultimate indulgence of letting go. Relaxing his taut muscles and his wary expression, Sean sighed and gave her what he hoped to be a somewhat friendly look. The Viking's huge muscles were nearly as taut as the bowstring itself as he strained in bringing it back into firing position. It had great muscular arms, and powerful legs supported a thick body covered with taut muscle. Normally, at times likes these, Montgomerie's nerves are so taut that it would be possible to play a guitar solo on them. Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov will be suspended on wires above a string quartet playing Tchaikovsky for a whole nine minutes while the audience gasp and marvel at those taut muscles and lean limbs. She's convinced that no matter how hard she works out, the skin that covers her taut biceps is growing daily more slack and wrinkly. She is a handsome woman - thin lips, taut facial muscles - who never lost her poise at her husband's funeral. I recommend a day by the waves to anyone who's fraying their last taut nerve. Synonyms flexed, tensed, tightened, hard, solid, firm, rigid, stiff, unyielding fraught, strained, stressed, tense, drawn, drained, sapped, fatigued, tired 1.2 (of writing, music, etc.) concise and controlled. a taut text of only a hundred and twenty pages Example sentencesExamples The film is taut and compact, and roughly a third of it plays out inside the cab as Max and Vincent traverse the city. The writing is taut; but it reads like a boring history textbook in places. Director Ryan Redford skilfully employs music, sound and montage to create a taut film. A taut screenplay, tight editing and, overall, a theme which takes off from real life, are what our films lack today. It is a superb piece of writing, and under Ross Manson's taut direction, Volcano gives it a thrilling production. All of which adds up to superb straight line stability, taut handling through curves, improved roll control and a prodigious ability to soak up bumps and smooth out potholes. The dances are exotic, taut, unusual and unpredictable but entirely controlled and elegant, sleek, streamlined. The subject matter of the novel, which is written in a taut, controlled, colloquial yet poetic prose, is highly autobiographical. But for the most part the music is taut, suffused with a ragged but determined power that has few equals among their contemporaries. With her taut writing, she never once fails to convey the emotional intensity of her characters' lives. Though there's plenty of brutal, taut music to be found on the record, more often than not, it's filmic, evocative, and remarkably organic. It translates in 2005 because this corner of music was always about nostalgia and taut drama constructed with tightly circumscribed language. The navigation is taut and the controls make perfect sense. It was tough, tight and ultimately taut with tension throughout with neither side willing to risk anything. At times his writing seems more like taut, elegant journalism than literary fiction. In no time at all you'll be able to produce lots of taut, pertinent, orthographically enhanced web text, and all with only one hand. Greatly influenced by DC hardcore forebears like Fugazi, QANU's music bristled with taut, pointed rhythms and impassioned verse. Shot in a realistic mode inspired by the agitprop classic The Battle of Algiers, Bloody Sunday is taut, terse and livid. Some judicious editorial pruning would have made the novel less uneven and the text more taut. Ellis' script is taut, sharp and resonant, like piano wire. Synonyms concise, controlled, crisp, pithy, sharp, succinct, compact, terse 1.3 (of a ship) having a disciplined and efficient crew. his language was salty and he ran a taut ship Example sentencesExamples A taut ship is a happy ship. Synonyms orderly, in order, in good order, in good condition, tight, trim, neat, well ordered, well regulated, well disciplined, tidy, spruce, smart, shipshape, shipshape and bristol fashion Origin Middle English tought ‘distended’, perhaps originally a variant of tough.
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