How to Use tighten up in a Sentence

tighten up

phrasal verb

• The Kings have to tighten up their game at both ends of the floor.
  — Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2025
• There’s a lot for Williams and the offense as a whole to tighten up and improve.
  — Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 11 Aug. 2024
• There are a few practical ways to tighten up the process.
  — Juliana Berger, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
• By the time the schedule tightens up in May, Ohtani could be ready to return to pitching.
  — Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2025
• But since then, firms have taken more steps to tighten up their rules.
  — Gillian Tan, Fortune, 22 May 2024
• One more slow start and the Heat might tighten up beyond repair.
  — Tara Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2023
• Dallas was far from perfect in its own zone against the Avalanche, but tightened up in Round 2.
  — The Athletic Nhl Staff, New York Times, 20 May 2025
• Largo tightened up its zone defense and the Bears just couldn’t find an answer.
  — Mike Frainie, Baltimore Sun, 16 Mar. 2024
• So, her first instinct was to tighten up and be prepared.
  — Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 9 Apr. 2024
• So, her first instinct was to tighten up and be prepared.
  — Danielle Bacher, People.com, 10 Dec. 2024
• The Pacers finished the year 50-32, tightening up their defense in the process.
  — James L. Edwards Iii, New York Times, 19 May 2025
• When Bailey’s side tightened up, Casali was prepared to step in.
  — Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic, 20 Aug. 2024
• And if the defense tightens up, maybe the pitchers can relax a whole little bit.
  — Bill Speros, Boston Herald, 15 June 2025
• The caffeine in coffee tightens up the blood-brain barrier and can decrease how much of the drug makes it to your brain.
  — Courtney Southwick, Health, 23 July 2024
• The coaching staff would tell you the offense needs to get better in every regard, and there is a lot to tighten up.
  — Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 23 Oct. 2024
• The Lynx tightened up its defense to slow down the Mercury’s ball movement and the team only made two on 11 attempts in the second half.
  — Jenna Ortiz, The Arizona Republic, 26 May 2023
• Phone ‘whack-a-mole’ Others in Olathe want to see the district tighten up its policy around phone use.
  — Taylor O’Connor, Kansas City Star, 28 Feb. 2025
• But the message from Dutcher during a timeout was, ahem, to tighten up the defense.
  — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Jan. 2024
• The Spurs will need to tighten up defensively and find a way to slow down a Knicks team that's firing on all cylinders.
  — Andy Biggs, Newsweek, 25 Dec. 2024
• When Thorne first joined forces with Hewlett, the focus was on tightening up some of his mechanics.
  — Ainslie Lee | [e-mail], al, 21 Aug. 2023
• Suddenly a small bowl of dancing dust appeared on the ground, then began to rise and tighten up.
  — Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025
• Then Oettinger tightened up, and the top line responded.
  — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 12 May 2023
• The win was dominant across the board, but there were still areas the Crimson Tide could stand to tighten up before Texas comes to Tuscaloosa next week.
  — Matt Stahl | [e-mail], al, 3 Sep. 2023
• Then, Ryan felt his forearm tighten up after the third inning.
  — Fabian Ardaya, The Athletic, 10 Aug. 2024
• More commonly known as a charley horse, a nighttime leg cramp is when the muscles in a leg quickly tighten up.
  — Erica Lamberg, Fox News, 4 Feb. 2024
• The team has spent the past three weeks working out the kinks, tightening up holes on the defensive side, and bolstering its roster.
  — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
• Polling tightened up toward the end of Kelly's race for governor, too.
  — Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Oct. 2024
• Another Reddit poster suggests there may be a cat and mouse game behind the scenes as Google tightens up.
  — Zak Doffman, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
• New York tightened up defensively on the other end of the ice, keeping the Golden Knights to only seven shots in the third.
  — Peter Baugh, The Athletic, 3 Feb. 2025
• Indiana's ability to rally late in games does funny things to opponents, who tighten up and stop playing the way that built their leads.
  — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 23 June 2025