taut

• POS: Adjective

CIDE DICTIONARY

taut, a. [Dan. tæt; akin to E. tight. See Tight.].

•  Tight; stretched; not slack; -- said esp. of a rope that is tightly strained.  [1913 Webster]
•  Snug; close; firm; secure.  [1913 Webster]

Taut hand (Naut.), a sailor's term for an officer who is severe in discipline.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

taut, adj.
1 (of a rope, muscles, etc.) tight; not slack.
2 (of nerves) tense.
3 (of a ship etc.) in good order or condition.

Derivative

tauten v.tr. & intr. tautly adv. tautness n.

Etymology

ME touht, togt, perh. = TOUGH, infl. by tog- past part. stem of obs. tee (OE teon) pull

THESAURUS

taut

all ataunto, anxious, apprehensive, ataunt, bungup and bilge-free, close, dragged out, drawn, drawn out, elongated, extended, firm, in suspense, in trim, keyed-up, lengthened, neat, on edge, on tenterhooks, on tiptoe, orderly, pokerlike, prolongated, prolonged, protracted, pulled, quivering, ramrodlike, renitent, rigid, rodlike, shipshape, smart, spruce, spun out, starched, starchy, stiff, stiff as buckram, straggling, strained, stretched, stretched out, stretched tight, strung out, tense, tidy, tight, trig, trim, under a strain, unrelaxed, uptight, virgate, with bated breath, with muscles tense

ROGET THESAURUS

taut

Junction

N junction, joining, joinder, union connection, conjunction, conjugation, annexion, annexation, annexment, astriction, attachment, compagination, vincture, ligation, alligation, accouplement, marriage infibulation, inosculation, symphysis, anastomosis, confluence, communication, concatenation, meeting, reunion, assemblage, coition, copulation, sex, sexual congress, sexual conjunction, sexual intercourse, love-making, joint, joining, juncture, pivot, hinge, articulation, commissure, seam, gore, gusset, suture, stitch, link, miter mortise, closeness, tightness coherence, combination, annexationist, joined, joint, conjoint, conjunct, corporate, compact, hand in hand, firm, fast, close, tight, taut, taught, secure, set, intervolved, inseparable, indissoluble, insecable, severable, jointly, in conjunction with, fast, firmly intimately, tria juncta in uno.