tight as a tick


(as) tight as a tick

1. Extremely drunk. The old man, tight as a tick, stumbled into the building claiming to be a prophet from the future. Sorry about last night, my dad was as tight as a tick by the end of dinner.2. Extremely close together; at or near an equal level; neck and neck. Usually said of competitors in a race or competition. The two athletes have been tight as a tick for this entire race. The election is as tight as a tick so far. We're going to have to wait until the very last votes are tallied before we know a definitive winner.See also: tick, tight

*tight as a tick

 1. very tight. (Fig. on the image of a tick swollen tight with blood or of a tick stuck tightly in someone's skin. *Also: as ~.) This lid is screwed on tight as a tick. The windows were closed—tight as a tick—to keep the cold out. 2. intoxicated. (Fig. on full as a tick. *Also: as ~.) The old man was tight as a tick but still lucid. The host got tight as a tick and fell in the pool. 3. [of a race] close, as if the racers are moving very closely together. (*Also: as ~.) This election is as tight as a tick. 4. very friendly and close; as thick as thieves. (*Also: as ~.) Those two are tight as a tick. They are always together.See also: tick, tight

tight as a tick

Drunk, as in She was tight as a tick after just one glass of wine. This expression alludes to a tick engorged with the blood of the animals it feeds on. [Slang; mid-1800s] See also: tick, tight

tight as a tick

extremely drunk. informal The simile as full as a tick occurs in a late 17th-century proverb collection, referring to the way in which the blood-sucking insects swell as they gorge themselves. In the modern expression, there is a play on tight as an informal synonym for ‘drunk’ and its literal meaning ‘stretched taut’, like a tick satiated with blood.See also: tick, tight

tight as a tick

verbSee as tight as a tickSee also: tick, tight

tight as a tick

Intoxicated. Presumably the analogy here is to a tick engorged with blood (since ticks feed on warm-blooded animals). Tight has long been a colloquial term for “drunk,” and “tight as a tick,” an Americanism enhanced by alliteration, dates from the mid-nineteenth century. Anthony Price combined two synonymous clichés in Soldier No More (1981): “He was drunk as a lord . . . tight as a tick.”See also: tick, tight