tie-up
[tahy-uhp]
- a temporary stoppage or slowing of business, traffic, telephone service, etc., as due to a strike, storm, or accident.
- the act or state of tying up or the state of being tied up.
- an involvement, connection, or entanglement: the tie-up between the two companies; his tie-up with the crime syndicate.
- a mooring place; place where a boat may be tied up.
- a cow barn with stalls.
- a stall allotted to each cow in such a barn.
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Origin of tie-up
First recorded in 1705–15; noun use of verb phrase tie up
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tie-up
Contemporary Examples
Buckling down to tie-up loose ends is key to lightening your mental load.
Historical Examples
Complications arising from the tie-up followed him at every turn.
Whispering SmithFrank H. Spearman
A tie-up of cars on the track ahead was accountable for the delay.
Mary Ware's Promised LandAnnie Fellows Johnston
Then came the great railroad strike, and the tie-up of the mails.
Bamboo TalesIra L. Reeves
There was a tie-up on Earth, and the tie-up had to be on the very inside of the Supreme Council!
Beyond The ThunderH. B. Hickey
By eight o'clock it was clear that the tie-up would be only partial.
A Poor Wise ManMary Roberts Rinehart