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In a tight manner; closely; nearly.

That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop.

color of buff. Buff coat, a close, military outer garment, with short sleeves, and laced tightly over the chest, made of buffalo skin, or other thick and elastic material, worn by soldiers in the 17th century as a defensive covering. -- Buff jerkin, originally, a leather waistcoat; afterward, one of cloth of a buff c…

To hold firmly; to hold fast by grasping or embracing tightly. "Clinch the pointed spear." Dryden.

To close tightly; to clinch. Not that I have the power to clutch my hand. Shak.

or strap attached to the upper part of the branches of a bit, and capable of being drawn tightly against the lower jaw of the horse. He that before ran in the pastures wild Felt the stiff curb control his angry jaws. Drayton. By these men, religion,that should be The curb, is made the spur of tyranny. Denham.…

r tongue (shaped like a bird's tail spread), and a mortise, or socket, into which it fits tightly, making an interlocking joint between two pieces which resists pulling a part in all directions except one. Dovetail molding (Arch.), a molding of any convex section arranged in a sort of zigzag, like a series of dovetails…

A bushing for expanding the end of a flue to fasten it tightly in the tube plate, or for partly filling up its mouth.

The hand with the fingers doubled into the palm; the closed hand, especially as clinched tightly for the purpose of striking a blow. Who grasp the earth and heaven with my fist. Herbert.

The part of an object upon which anything fits tightly. Fit rod (Shipbuilding), a gauge rod used to try the depth of a bolt hole in order to determine the length of the bolt required. Knight.

ng machine, a powerful press for putting together or separating two parts that are fitted tightly one into another, as for forcing a crank on a shaft, or for drawing off a car wheel from the axle. -- Forcing pump. See Force pump (b).

A lashing binding a thing tightly or binding things together.

So tightly fitted as to preclude the escape of gas; impervious to gas.

s harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. 1 Kings xx. 11. -- To gird up, to bind tightly with a girdle; to support and strengthen, as with a girdle. He girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab. 1 Kings xviii. 46. Gird up the loins of your mind. 1 Pet. i. 13. -- Girt up; prepared or equipped, as for a journey o…

e abdominal viscera in most common. Called also rupture. Strangulated hernia, a hernia so tightly compressed in some part of the channel through which it has been protruded as to arrest its circulation, and produce swelling of the protruded part. It may occur in recent or chronic hernia, but is more common in the latte…

Strained; tightly drawn; kept on the stretch; strict; very close or earnest; as, intense study or application; intense thought.

Tightly drawn; or (perhaps) intricate. [Very rare] Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain, Which are too intrinse to unloose. Shak.

Laced mutton, a prostitute. [Old slang] -- Laced stocking, a strong stocking which can be tightly laced; -- used in cases of weak legs, varicose veins, etc. Dunglison.

omething that fits badly, as a garment. I saw an uneasy change in Mr. Micawber, which sat tightly on him, as if his new duties were a misfit. Dickens.

To catch and inclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon. May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress. Tennyson.