tie-up

1 of 2

noun

ˈtī-ˌəp 

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

Synonyms

Noun

• jam
• snarl
• congestion

Verb

• impede
• hinder
• hamper
• embarrass
• obstruct
• hold back
• handicap

Examples of tie-up in a Sentence

Noun

a tie-up at the junction of Main and Central has slowed traffic to a crawl

in a tie-up with the film studio, the toy company is producing a whole line of figures featuring characters from the animated movie

Verb

an accident is tying up traffic at 5th and Broadway

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

As part of the tie-up, AMD has issued OpenAI a warrant for up to 160 million shares of AMD common stock, with vesting milestones tied to both deployment volume and AMD’s share price. —Mackenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2025

At the same time, the designer continued to expand the narrative around the label with tie-ups with historic pastry shop Cova and supporting British artist Rachel Hobkirk by staging an exhibition in Milan and releasing the dedicated catalogue earlier this year. —Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025

Verb

Wisconsin lawmakers maintained state funding levels in the biennial budget passed this summer, but around $4 billion in federal low-income energy assistance funding is tied up in Congress amid a government shutdown. —Francesca Pica, jsonline.com, 9 Oct. 2025

For a very long time, so much of my identity was tied up in the notion of becoming an actor and being an actor. —Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 3a

Verb

1530, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for tie-up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

tie-up

1 of 2 noun

ˈtī-ˌəp

1

: a slowing or stopping especially of traffic or business

2

: connection sense 2, association

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