1
a
: a line (as of rope or chain) by which an animal is fastened so as to restrict its range of movement
b
: a line to which someone or something is attached (as for security)
A crewman can clip the tether of his harness to the [safety line] and leave it clipped as he makes his way forward and aft.—
Michael A. Smith
Michael A. Smith2
: the limit of one's strength or resources
I'm at the end of my tether.
tethered; tethering
ˈte-t͟h(ə-)riŋ 
: to fasten or restrain by or as if by a tether
felt tethered to her desk until the work was done
Examples of tether in a Sentence
Verb
They tethered the horses in the shade.
The dog was tethered to the fence.
Recent Examples on the WebIEEE Spectrum, 15 Mar. 2024
In a rare and unconventional request, defense attorney Shannon Smith has offered to let her client live in her guest house — on a tether — to spare her from going to prison.
—Lily Altavena, Detroit Free Press, 7 Apr. 2024
The flying bot carries the Wendy’s order in custom packaging that the drone lifts up and lowers via a tether.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 22 Mar. 2024
These items are not allowed No drones, rocket, powered balloons, ultralights or model aircraft will be permitted, regardless of whether they are controlled by line of sight, radio frequency or tethers.
—Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 14 Feb. 2024
Putting thrusters on the tether wasn’t even the craziest idea.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Mar. 2024
There will always be a tether to him no matter what.
—Lawrence Yee, Peoplemag, 23 Mar. 2024
An authority on the English language has set us free from the tethers of what many have long regarded as a grammatical no-no.
—Emma Bowman, NPR, 27 Feb. 2024
Joel asks the doctor before the big deletion, rightfully anxious about maintaining his tether to reality.
—Chris Richards, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024
Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 27 Apr. 2024
Zelensky was calling nonstop for updates — tethering her to WiFi to stay in contact.
—Siobhán O'Grady, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2024
Brokers and an appraiser say that its market value may not be tethered to reality.
—Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
Archaeologists are finding that ancient sustainability was tethered closely to politics.
—Chelsea Fisher, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2024
Only one run involving tug boats averted the disaster, and even then only when two tugs at full power were tethered to the ship all the way under the bridge.
—USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024
Dorie Ladner was 11 months younger than Emmett Till, an African American who was 14 when he was lynched in the Mississippi Delta in 1955, his mutilated body tethered with barbed wire to a cotton gin fan and submerged in the Tallahatchie River.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
But to extract it, mines suck water out of the flats, tethered to the lives of thousands of communities like Flores de Callata’s.
—Megan Janetsky, Victor R. Caivano and Rodrigo Abd, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024
Like his crewmates, Dominick will sleep tethered to a wall, eat many of his meals out of a pouch and urinate into a funnel and hose.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2024
Noun
Lowered on a tether from the belly of its parent Zip drone, the Droid contains thrusters and sensors (plus a 2.5- to 3.5-kilogram payload) to reliably navigate itself to a delivery area of just one meter in diameter.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Mar. 2024
In a rare and unconventional request, defense attorney Shannon Smith has offered to let her client live in her guest house — on a tether — to spare her from going to prison.
—Lily Altavena, Detroit Free Press, 7 Apr. 2024
The flying bot carries the Wendy’s order in custom packaging that the drone lifts up and lowers via a tether.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 22 Mar. 2024
These items are not allowed No drones, rocket, powered balloons, ultralights or model aircraft will be permitted, regardless of whether they are controlled by line of sight, radio frequency or tethers.
—Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 14 Feb. 2024
Putting thrusters on the tether wasn’t even the craziest idea.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Mar. 2024
There will always be a tether to him no matter what.
—Lawrence Yee, Peoplemag, 23 Mar. 2024
An authority on the English language has set us free from the tethers of what many have long regarded as a grammatical no-no.
—Emma Bowman, NPR, 27 Feb. 2024
Joel asks the doctor before the big deletion, rightfully anxious about maintaining his tether to reality.
—Chris Richards, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024
Verb
By creating its own payment system, Grab could eliminate the use of cash and serve the underbanked population—while also tethering customers to the app.
—Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 27 Apr. 2024
Zelensky was calling nonstop for updates — tethering her to WiFi to stay in contact.
—Siobhán O'Grady, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2024
Brokers and an appraiser say that its market value may not be tethered to reality.
—Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
Archaeologists are finding that ancient sustainability was tethered closely to politics.
—Chelsea Fisher, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2024
Only one run involving tug boats averted the disaster, and even then only when two tugs at full power were tethered to the ship all the way under the bridge.
—USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024
Dorie Ladner was 11 months younger than Emmett Till, an African American who was 14 when he was lynched in the Mississippi Delta in 1955, his mutilated body tethered with barbed wire to a cotton gin fan and submerged in the Tallahatchie River.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
But to extract it, mines suck water out of the flats, tethered to the lives of thousands of communities like Flores de Callata’s.
—Megan Janetsky, Victor R. Caivano and Rodrigo Abd, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024
Like his crewmates, Dominick will sleep tethered to a wall, eat many of his meals out of a pouch and urinate into a funnel and hose.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tether.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tether
Cite this Entry
“Tether.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tether. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tether
1 of 2 noun
teth·er
ˈtet͟h-ər
: a line by which something (as an animal or a balloon) is fastened so as to limit its range
tether
2 of 2 verb
tethered; tethering
ˈtet͟h-(ə-)riŋ
: to fasten or hold with or as if with a tether
felt tethered to my desk
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