tighten up

verb

tightened up; tightening up; tightens up

: to become more strict or effective or to make (something) more strict or effective

Security around the building has tightened up recently.

They tightened up security around the building.

Examples of tighten up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Smart Skincare Swaps at CVS One of my 2026 goals was to tighten up my budget. — Shea Simmons, PEOPLE, 18 July 2026

William Saliba — France/Arsenal (+1) Saliba has been every bit as good as Upamecano at the heart of a France defence that has tightened up in the knockout rounds, and only ranks behind him by virtue of missing one group game. — Liam Twomey, New York Times, 13 July 2026

Hopefully the show’s creators and writers will spend at least a little more time in the gap to tighten up the scripts. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026

Funnily enough, the rules have tightened up in recent decades compared to the tournament’s first 100 years. — Afia Asamoah, InStyle, 30 June 2026

Rhymes for tighten up

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