tautenv.
/ˈtɔːtn/, U.S. /ˈtɔtn/, /ˈtɑtn/ 1. transitive. To make (something) taut (in various senses).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [verb (transitive)] > make taut
stretcha1387
bracec1440
wrench1577
span1598
tend1646
span1650
screw1657
tauten1777
tensify1869
tense1884
tension1891
1777 D. L'Escalier Vocab. Termes Marine ii. 129/1 Rider un cordage, to taughten a rope.
a1814 C. Dibdin Songs (1842) 155/2 While taught'ning the forestay, I saw her faint.
1886 M. F. Sheldon tr. G. Flaubert Salammbô xiii. 310 [Catapults] were tautened with levers, pulleys, capstans, or drums.
1923 Pop. Sci. Monthly July 22/2 We used a chain block hauled on by a big crew of men to tauten the tight wire apparatus.
1974 J. Gray Canvas Work 21/2 Frame up these fabrics in a square rather than a round frame as the latter tends to open up the mesh of scrim fabrics when it is tautened.
1993 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 18 Nov. Muldrow's monologue..is set down in a prose tautened by a haiku reserve.
2012 Croydon Advertiser (Nexis) 10 Aug. 8 Knobs then massage the skin, ironing out blemishes and tautening the face.
2. intransitive. To become taut; (now typically, of a person, the body, etc.) to become stiff and tense, esp. as a response to fear or alarm.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [verb (intransitive)] > become taut
tauten1834
tighten1846
1834 Metrop. Mag. May 68 They had not seen a warp of a vessel getting into the row, and had run over it, and as it tautened they capsized.
1879 J. Beerbohm Wanderings in Patagonia v. 66 The shock, as the lasso tautened, threw his horse on its haunches.
1924 A. D. H. Smith Porto Bello Gold iv. 51 The rope tautened; the unseen block whined louder.
1948 M. Irwin Elizabeth, Captive Princess xxiv. 199 She tautened and flung back her head, bracing herself as if to meet an attack.
1986 O. S. Card Speaker for Dead (1987) xii. 211 His shoulder tautened against her touch as if her hands were a poisonous spider.
2003 J. Connolly Works (2004) i. 57 A faraway movement way down there now made her tauten.
Derivatives
ˈtautened adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [adjective] > taut > made taut
well-haledc1400
spanned1598
braced1633
straitened1667
tensed1676
tightened1760
tended1800
tautened1838
1838 Metrop. Mag. Apr. 414 ‘Belay the topsail halyards!’ cried Hecla, as his quick eye detected the tautened leach-ropes aloft, and the accustomed mark on the rope below.
1929 E. Carfrae Guarded Heights xxiii. 202 Carey's voice had a queer little tautened note when he spoke again.
1995 K. O'Riordan Involved 69 He..pressed his lips against the tautened sheen of flesh.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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