tie-up

1 of 2

noun

ˈtī-ˌəp 

1

: a slowdown or stoppage of traffic, business, or operation (as by a mechanical breakdown)

2

: connection, association

helpful financial tie-ups

3

a

: a cow stable

also : a space for a single cow in a stable

b

: a mooring place for a boat

tie up

2 of 2

verb

tied up; tying up or tieing up; ties up

transitive verb

1

: to attach, fasten, or bind securely

also : to wrap up and fasten

2

a

: to connect closely : join

tie up the loose ends

b

: to cause to be linked so as to depend on or relate to something

3

a

: to place or invest in such a manner as to make unavailable for other purposes

their money was tied up in stocks

b

: to restrain from normal movement, operation, or progress

traffic was tied up for miles

4

a

: to keep busy

was tied up in conference all day

b

: to preempt the use of

tied up the phone for an hour

intransitive verb

1

: dock entry 2

the ferry ties up at the south slip

2

: to assume a definite relationship

this ties up with what I told you before

Synonyms

Noun

• backup
• bottleneck
• jam
• jam-up
• logjam
• snarl
• tailback [British]

Verb

• clog
• cramp
• embarrass
• encumber
• fetter
• hamper
• handcuff
• handicap
• hinder
• hobble
• hog-tie
• hold back
• hold up
• impede
• inhibit
• interfere (with)
• manacle
• obstruct
• shackle
• short-circuit
• stymie
• trammel

Examples of tie-up in a Sentence

Noun

a tie-up at the junction of Main and Central has slowed traffic to a crawl

in a tie-up with the film studio, the toy company is producing a whole line of figures featuring characters from the animated movie

Verb

an accident is tying up traffic at 5th and Broadway

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But such a tie-up could make sense, at least on paper, for a few reasons: Musk, and by extension President-elect Donald Trump, gets to play the hero to a whole generation of young social media users. —Allison Morrow, CNN, 15 Jan. 2025

General Motors plans to go racing in Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac luxury brand, something that had been in the works for a while as part of a tie-up with Mario Andretti. —Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 13 Jan. 2025

Verb

Dean and his wife, D.J., were at home when a masked intruder broke in and forced Roger Dean to tie up his wife, according to previous reporting. —Katie Langford, The Denver Post, 18 Jan. 2025

However, keeping your main phone tied up with the remote can be inconvenient. —Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 17 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 3a

Verb

1530, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

tie-up

1 of 2 noun

ˈtī-ˌəp

1

: a slowing or stopping especially of traffic or business

2

: connection sense 2, association

tie up

2 of 2 verb

(ˈ)tī-ˈəp

1

: to fasten securely

2

a

: to use in such a manner as not to be available for other purposes

money tied up in stocks

b

: to keep from working or going

traffic was tied up for hours

3

: to have a relationship with something else

this ties up with what you said before