tight as a drum

Idioms  

1. Taut or close-fitting; also, watertight. For example, That baby's eaten so much that the skin on his belly is tight as a drum, or You needn't worry about leaks; this tent is tight as a drum. Originally this expression alluded to the skin of a drumhead, which is tightly stretched, and in the mid-1800s was transferred to other kinds of tautness. Later, however, it sometimes referred to a drum-shaped container, such as an oil drum, which had to be well sealed to prevent leaks, and the expression then signified “watertight.”

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Example Sentences

Labour will then need to come up with new ways of paying for those ideas at a time when public money is as tight as a drum.

From BBC • Mar. 2, 2024

“I do my chores, too,” he said: washing the dishes and making the bed, tight as a drum, as he was taught at Camp Nebagamon when he was 10.

From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2023

Now, gas has increasingly become a favoured green transition fuel because it produces lower emissions than coal and oil, so demand has rocketed and the global market has become as tight as a drum.

From Reuters • Jan. 26, 2022

With Turkey and Ukraine breathing down the necks of both countries, Group I remains tight as a drum and Iceland may not qualify.

From The Guardian • Sep. 6, 2017

As I climbed into the boat, my stomach felt tight as a drum.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac