tautnessn.

1677 J. Locke Jrnl. 14 Oct. in K. Dewhurst John Locke (1963) 81 But this I observd that upon returne of my ague the tautnesse and rumbleing of my belly much abated.

1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Tortness (spoken of a Rope, etc.) Straightness, Tightness, by being hard pulled.

1833 Royal Lady's Mag. Sept. 94/1 At length a combination of flags upon yon lofty vessel, conspicuous for the squareness of her yards, for the tautness of her masts..gives signal for weighing anchor.

1861 E. S. Kennedy in Peaks, Passes & Glaciers 2nd Ser. I. 166 The taughtness of the rope unavoidably makes it difficult to retain a foothold.

1879 J. M. Duncan Clin. Lect. Dis. Women vi. 59 There being only left a little tautness on one side.

1918 H. T. Follett & W. Follett Some Mod. Novelists v. 145 This comic interlude..both serves the plot, by insuring yet postponing the revelation, and slackens the emotional tautness of the reader.

1973 N. Monsarrat Kappillan of Malta 176 Her face had that inner pallor, that fragile tautness, which he had come to associate with the first margins of mortality.

2007 Guardian 27 Jan. (Guide Suppl.) 25/3 His recent recordings have displayed a heartening return to his old hard-boppish tautness of line and freshness of ideas.