taut

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“
The door was closed and the lights were off, the phone cord stretched taut from the living room.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. adjective Pulled or drawn tight; not slack. See Synonyms at tight.
  2. adjective Strained; tense: nerves taut with anxiety.
  3. adjective Kept in trim shape; neat and tidy.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples

  • The door was closed and the lights were off, the phone cord stretched taut from the living room. —  Hayden's Ferry Review Issue 45
  • Canvas smacked taut, and the sloop heeled steeply. —  Stormwarden
  • Suddenly the line went taut, and the ship jerked. —  Mind Meld
  • He voice was taut, almost harsh. —  Modesty Blaise
  • His pale lips were taut, his face was waxy. —  The Pillars of Creation
 

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Taut has been looked up 280 times, favorited twice, listed 32 times, and commented on once.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

tight ·  tense ·  rigid ·  supple ·  muscular ·  shapely ·  breathless ·  elastic ·  silky ·  shiny ·  bare ·  fragile
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English tohte, distended, perhaps ultimately from Old English togian, to drag; see tow1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early modern English taught; from Middle English toght, a variant of tight: see tight. The form taut cannot be explained as coming directly from Danish tæt.
 

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/tɔt/
by American Heritage

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