tie-up

1 of 2

noun

1
: a slowdown or stoppage of traffic, business, or operation (as by a mechanical breakdown)
2
: connection, association
helpful financial tie-ups
3
a
: a cow stable
also : a space for a single cow in a stable
b
: a mooring place for a boat

tie up

2 of 2

verb

tied up; tying up or tieing up; ties up

transitive verb

1
: to attach, fasten, or bind securely
also : to wrap up and fasten
2
a
: to connect closely : join
tie up the loose ends
b
: to cause to be linked so as to depend on or relate to something
3
a
: to place or invest in such a manner as to make unavailable for other purposes
their money was tied up in stocks
b
: to restrain from normal movement, operation, or progress
traffic was tied up for miles
4
a
: to keep busy
was tied up in conference all day
b
: to preempt the use of
tied up the phone for an hour

intransitive verb

1
: dock entry 2
the ferry ties up at the south slip
2
: to assume a definite relationship
this ties up with what I told you before

Examples of tie-up in a Sentence

Verb an accident is tying up traffic at 5th and Broadway
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Klarna recently said its tie-up with OpenAI to use artificial intelligence across the company had led to advances in customer service that could replace workers. Aisha S Gani, Fortune Europe, 8 Mar. 2024 But while JPMorgan’s top boss seems fine with the tie-up of Capital One and Discover, lawmakers are fiercely opposed to the proposal. Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024 Unions — the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers International — have expressed concerns about the tie-up. Alina Selyukh, NPR, 26 Feb. 2024 If successful, the tie-up would lead to a company with 710,000 workers operating nearly 5,000 stores and approximately 4,000 pharmacies. Rob Wile, NBC News, 26 Feb. 2024 Hurley was called for a technical in the first half after complaining when the official called a tie-up after Neal had come up with an apparent steal. Michelle Gardner, The Arizona Republic, 20 Jan. 2024 President Biden is facing new pressure to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of the iconic manufacturer U.S. Steel, this time from environmental groups that say the tie-up would set back America’s efforts to curb climate change. Jim Tankersley, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2024 This was backed up by offline, on the ground promotions via tie-ups with South Asian restaurants and grocery stores. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 15 Jan. 2024 That will be the share of gas from the Haynesville Shale produced by a single company after the tie-up of Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, according to Wood Mackenzie. David Uberti, WSJ, 11 Jan. 2024
Verb
Adidas is tied up in Yeezy shoe strings Reputation-wise, Adidas’s move to part ways with the rapper Ye made perfect sense. Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 Bills are still tied up in the Ohio House and Senate. Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 8 Mar. 2024 Last fall, the auction house also sold three additional pieces from Banksy’s Wrong War series, which also feature attack helicopters tied up with bows, for over £32,100. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024 Much of the stopgap spending measure signed by President Joe Biden on Friday to keep the government's lights on was tied up in an abrupt fight over increasing college financial aid. Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2024 To get an appeal bond, Trump will need to hand over cash, sell properties or use them as collateral, tying up most if not all of his liquid assets for months or longer. Erik Larson, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 Advice offered in the survey included hiring private security, as IMPD is likely to be tied up. Rory Appleton, The Indianapolis Star, 27 Feb. 2024 This means grieving customers can have the time necessary to tie up unresolved issues and bring peace and acceptance to the final separation. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024 Notably, Trump’s 2021 balance sheet included some $90 million tied up in entities controlled by Vornado, his business partner on office buildings in New York and San Francisco. Kyle Mullins, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tie-up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 3a

Verb

1530, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tie-up was in 1530

Dictionary Entries Near tie-up

Cite this Entry

“Tie-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tie-up. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

tie-up

1 of 2 noun
ˈtī-ˌəp
1
: a slowing or stopping especially of traffic or business
2

tie up

2 of 2 verb
(ˈ)tī-ˈəp
1
: to fasten securely
2
a
: to use in such a manner as not to be available for other purposes
money tied up in stocks
b
: to keep from working or going
traffic was tied up for hours
3
: to have a relationship with something else
this ties up with what you said before
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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