tighten the noose

idiom

: to make a situation more difficult for someone
The new tougher penalties will tighten the noose on traffic offenders.
They tightened the noose around the enemy by cutting the supply lines.

Examples of tighten the noose in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But Fain is directing the strike to proceed in stages, starting today with three plants and then spreading over time to more, to tighten the noose slowly on recalcitrant management. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 15 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tighten the noose.' 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 tighten the noose

Cite this Entry

“Tighten the noose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tighten%20the%20noose. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!