tight ship

Idioms  

1. A well-managed organization, as in The camp director runs a tight ship. This metaphoric term alludes to a ship in which the ropes are taut and by extension the ship is strictly managed. [Second half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tight ship

“We’re running a tight ship here,” McDermott said, adding that ServiceNow has kept its head count flat and saved $1 billion in costs by using its autonomous workflow tools internally.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

The bank didn't give any update on the potential sale of non-core assets after Krupa said last month he intended to run a "tight ship" in terms of the bank's portfolio.

From Reuters ● Sep. 18, 2023

Back inside, despite running a tight ship, Lulo’s demeanor is calm and collected.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2023

While she ran a tight ship both at school and at home, music was where she could let go.

From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2020

My parents ran a tight ship, and I had no reason to believe they weren’t serious about their demands, so I didn’t dare bring home any grade below an A-minus.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad