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
tied up; tying up or tieing up; ties up
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
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
Examples of tie-up in a Sentence
Verb
an accident is tying up traffic at 5th and Broadway
Recent Examples on the Web
Melvin Backman, Quartz, 29 Mar. 2024
On Monday, the company said talks for a strategic tie-up had not proved fruitful and the New York Stock Exchange moved to delist its stock, which collapsed and closed Wednesday at 2 cents per share.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Part of that could be because of traffic tie-ups on the Interstate 95 corridor, a major artery for traffic along the East Coast.
—Mark Thompson, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024
The shooting caused major traffic tie-ups Thursday morning, which cleared up by the afternoon rush hour.
—Omar Rodríguez Ortiz, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
Klarna recently said its tie-up with OpenAI to use artificial intelligence across the company had led to advances in customer service that could replace workers.
—Aisha S Gani, Fortune Europe, 8 Mar. 2024
But while JPMorgan’s top boss seems fine with the tie-up of Capital One and Discover, lawmakers are fiercely opposed to the proposal.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024
Unions — the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers International — have expressed concerns about the tie-up.
—Alina Selyukh, NPR, 26 Feb. 2024
If successful, the tie-up would lead to a company with 710,000 workers operating nearly 5,000 stores and approximately 4,000 pharmacies.
—Rob Wile, NBC News, 26 Feb. 2024
Fritz Farrow, ABC News, 30 Mar. 2024
Musk, who owns about 13% Tesla’s outstanding shares, has a majority of his net worth tied up in the EV company.
—Derek Saul, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Ironically for a company long accustomed to managing for financial results, the company’s financial viability is on the line, with approximately $100 billion in revenues tied up due to the FAA holding up approval for the 737 Max 7s and 10s.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 27 Mar. 2024
This relatively unknown billionaire, who has a huge chunk of his wealth tied up in TikTok, has a large influence over several politicians.
—Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo, Quartz, 26 Mar. 2024
Corley filed a slew of proposals in August, which are tied up in similar legal battles with statewide officials over the wording and cost of the measures.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
That has been followed by a subsequent shift, today, to defense only – with American military support remaining tied up in Congress.
—Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Mar. 2024
Environmental groups have signaled lawsuits are possible, which could tie up the matter in court.
—Melody Gutierrez, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
Many of the storylines in the series stand alone and are tied up by the time the credits roll at the end of each episode.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
Noun
The two companies had once planned for a $3.8 billion merger, but a federal judge blocked the tie-up.
—Melvin Backman, Quartz, 29 Mar. 2024
On Monday, the company said talks for a strategic tie-up had not proved fruitful and the New York Stock Exchange moved to delist its stock, which collapsed and closed Wednesday at 2 cents per share.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Part of that could be because of traffic tie-ups on the Interstate 95 corridor, a major artery for traffic along the East Coast.
—Mark Thompson, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024
The shooting caused major traffic tie-ups Thursday morning, which cleared up by the afternoon rush hour.
—Omar Rodríguez Ortiz, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
Klarna recently said its tie-up with OpenAI to use artificial intelligence across the company had led to advances in customer service that could replace workers.
—Aisha S Gani, Fortune Europe, 8 Mar. 2024
But while JPMorgan’s top boss seems fine with the tie-up of Capital One and Discover, lawmakers are fiercely opposed to the proposal.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024
Unions — the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers International — have expressed concerns about the tie-up.
—Alina Selyukh, NPR, 26 Feb. 2024
If successful, the tie-up would lead to a company with 710,000 workers operating nearly 5,000 stores and approximately 4,000 pharmacies.
—Rob Wile, NBC News, 26 Feb. 2024
Verb
President Joe Biden's campaign on Saturday excoriated former President Donald Trump for sharing a video on social media depicting what appears to be an image of Biden tied up and kidnapped in the back of a pickup truck.
—Fritz Farrow, ABC News, 30 Mar. 2024
Musk, who owns about 13% Tesla’s outstanding shares, has a majority of his net worth tied up in the EV company.
—Derek Saul, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Ironically for a company long accustomed to managing for financial results, the company’s financial viability is on the line, with approximately $100 billion in revenues tied up due to the FAA holding up approval for the 737 Max 7s and 10s.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 27 Mar. 2024
This relatively unknown billionaire, who has a huge chunk of his wealth tied up in TikTok, has a large influence over several politicians.
—Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo, Quartz, 26 Mar. 2024
Corley filed a slew of proposals in August, which are tied up in similar legal battles with statewide officials over the wording and cost of the measures.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
That has been followed by a subsequent shift, today, to defense only – with American military support remaining tied up in Congress.
—Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Mar. 2024
Environmental groups have signaled lawsuits are possible, which could tie up the matter in court.
—Melody Gutierrez, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
Many of the storylines in the series stand alone and are tied up by the time the credits roll at the end of each episode.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tie-up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
Noun
1851, in the meaning defined at sense 3a
Verb
1530, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near tie-up
Cite this Entry
“Tie-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tie-up. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
tie-up
1 of 2 nounˈtī-ˌəp
1
: a slowing or stopping especially of traffic or business
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
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