tether
Americannoun
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a rope, chain, or the like, by which an animal is fastened to a fixed object so as to limit its range of movement.
-
the utmost length to which one can go in action; the utmost extent or limit of ability or resources.
verb (used with object)
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to fasten or confine with or as if with a tether.
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Digital Technology. to use (an electronic device, usually a smartphone or tablet) to enable a wireless internet connection on another nearby device, often a laptop.
There's no Wi-Fi, so I'll have to tether my phone to my laptop.
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
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a restricting rope, chain, etc, by which an animal is tied to a particular spot
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the range of one's endurance, etc
-
distressed or exasperated to the limit of one's endurance
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tethersimple
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tetherssimple
-
have tetheredperfect
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has tetheredperfect
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am tetheringprogressive
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are tetheringprogressive
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is tetheringprogressive
-
have been tetheringperfect progressive
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has been tetheringperfect progressive
Past
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tetheredsimple
-
had tetheredperfect
-
was tetheringprogressive
-
were tetheringprogressive
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had been tetheringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tether
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (noun); compare Old Norse tjōthr, Dutch tuier
Explanation
Both a verb and a noun, tether keeps things tied together, or is the tie itself. Remember, when you tether that chair to those balloons, use a strong tether. You don't want to drop from the sky because you tied them together using a cheap piece of rope. Think of the childhood game tether-ball. The ball is tethered to a pole by a tether. Tether usually refers to a rope or a chain, but it can also refer to an invisible bond or link. For example, the Internet can serve as a tether that links you to your pen pal in Germany. The love between a mother and her child keeps them tethered to each other for a lifetime. And whenever astronauts go for jaunts outside the space station, they tether themselves to the station using wires and a hook.
Vocabulary lists containing tether
The Cay
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
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"Hitching a Ride"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I wanted a little culinary tether, some proof of belonging, the opportunity to say, “Oh, yeah, I know a place, too.”
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
There’s just this beautiful, invisible tether that has always existed and will always exist between the two of them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
Unlike Meta's Ray-Ban and Oakley models, the glasses function without needing a "tether" to a smartphone.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
The drone that led Gauntlet I was Shrike, a first-person-view, or FPV, strike drone using a 12-mile fiber-optic tether.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
I made it nearly a quarter mile before the darkness and my dazzled vision betrayed me and I ran headlong into a horse tether, crumpling to the ground in a painful heap.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
I’ve seen people use fanny packs with tethers inside to further secure phones and also phone lanyards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
Since his family is gone, nothing tethers him to his human life.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2025
His approach tethers DNA probes dubbed "Inverse Molecular Sentinels" to the points of star-shaped gold nanoparticles.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024
To support them, he anchors parallel rows of eight- or 10-foot canes into the ground, about eight inches apart within each row, and then tethers the rows together with a bamboo crossbar near the top.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
"The tethers are linked and spooled in Airlock 2. My suit and MMU are prepped and ready."
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The two companies remain tethered to one another as a federal court considers claims that their $81 billion deal violates antitrust law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Wilber felt terrified of the new and uncertain environment he was forced into, but the kindness and guidance of the other men in the facility kept him tethered, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
"People are moving away from the traditional mindset that certain jobs must be tethered to a specific gender," Chen Ning, the 27-year-old founder, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Javed eventually moved to the UK, part of the vast stream of Indians who leave home searching for financial stability abroad but remain emotionally tethered to their families.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
The primary diver enters the water tethered to a search line as tall as a skyscraper.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
Colonel Parker, Elvis’s manager, kept his cash cow on a leash, tethering him first to middling B-pictures, then to casinos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
As a result, more companies are changing their business models, raising gobs of cash and tethering their fortunes to the fate of AI behemoths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
It may now be tethering on the edge of a bigger drop.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 29, 2026
You could, for instance, be charged for tethering your goat on a public street, fixing a leaky tap without a licence or not naming the owner of a building when asked.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2025
He set the hawk on the top slat of the fence in front of the church, tethering the bird with its leather leg straps so it wouldn’t fly away.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
