tether
Americannoun
-
tethers
plural
-
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)
-
tethers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tethered,
past participle, past
-
tethering
present participle
-
to fasten or confine with or as if with a tether.
-
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)
-
tethers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tethered,
past participle, past
-
tethering
present participle
idioms
noun
-
a restricting rope, chain, etc, by which an animal is tied to a particular spot
-
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
-
tetherssimple
-
have tetheredperfect
-
has tetheredperfect
-
am tetheringprogressive
-
are tetheringprogressive
-
is tetheringprogressive
-
have been tetheringperfect progressive
-
has been tetheringperfect progressive
Past
-
tetheredsimple
-
had tetheredperfect
-
was tetheringprogressive
-
were tetheringprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Hitching a Ride"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The findings, published in Current Biology, suggest that the spiral forms as the embryo's body rapidly lengthens while its gut acts as a tether.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
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
Whether your escape is sports, entertainment, gossip, conspiracy theories or mass hallucination, you can get lost to the point where there is no tether to reality at all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
But he added something of his own—and it was this that helped tether his high style to something more conversational.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Since his family is gone, nothing tethers him to his human life.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2025
While these tethers naturally want to curl up on themselves, they are held straight by a segment of DNA that is tailored to bind with the target microRNA being tested for.
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
And then when you factor our own story into what this piece already is, it tethers us to these characters in ways that feel very personal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
For a moment, every ghost in the citadel felt their tethers fall slack.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Rodriguez was even more direct, saying, “I think those are all tethered together to make you swallow the poison.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Generating electricity while tethered to the back of a boat, Mummery says it was the full-scale proof-of-concept that "finally put us on the map".
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
Because grief “feels like the blanket that everyone is tethered to in some way,” Bareilles doesn’t hold anything back in these lyrics or performances.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
They can wind up with a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease like emphysema, tethered to oxygen as their health declines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
A vehicle was driving into the parking lot, a dusty truck with two goats tethered on the open loading platform.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
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
The researchers discovered that tethering the nucleolus was enough to keep it compact, and small nucleoli delayed aging to about the same extent as calorie restriction.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
But she had tiny feet, tethering in high-heeled shoes.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
