- 1v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/bind someone up綁住（人）
To tie someone's arms or legs with rope or string so they cannot move freely.
「tie someone up」是用繩子把一個人的手腳綁起來，讓他動不了。中間放人：tie him up、tie the pirate up。在遊戲或故事裡很常見，像是玩海盜抓俘虜、或故事裡被綁住的騎士等待人來救。up 在這裡是「完全綁緊、變成固定狀態」的意思——繩子一圈一圈纏好，整個人被「鎖」在那個狀態，這就是 tie up 大家族的核心畫面。
示範例句 · Example
In the pirate game, we pretended to tie up the captain with a soft rope.
中文翻譯在海盜遊戲裡，我們假裝用一條軟繩把船長綁起來。
常見搭配
tie someone up
把某人綁起來
to bind a person's arms or legs with rope
In the play, the actors tied up the villain and marched him offstage.
tied up with rope
被繩子綁住
held in place by rope so you cannot move
The treasure box was tied up with thick rope in the story.
- 2v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/moor a boat把船繫好
To a boat to something with a rope so it stays in place at the shore.
「tie up a boat」是用繩子把船「繫在碼頭、岸邊或別的東西上」，讓它停在原地不會漂走。The thread inside `up`: up 還是「綁牢、固定」的畫面——船被繩子穩穩繫住，安全地停在那裡。注意這個用法常常不放受詞，直接說 the boat tied up（船靠岸繫好了）。
常見搭配
tie up the boat
把船繫好
to fasten a boat with a rope so it stays at the shore
Tie up the boat carefully so it doesn't drift away.
tied up at the dock
繫在碼頭邊
fastened with a rope at the place where boats stop
The ferry was tied up at the dock all night.
- 3v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/fasten with rope綁好 / 繫好
To things together or close something using string, rope, or a knot.
「tie up」最日常的意思是用繩子、線或打結把東西「綁緊、繫好」，例如綁鞋帶（tie up your shoelaces）、把包裹綁起來（tie up a parcel）、把頭髮綁起來（tie up your hair）。The thread inside `up`: up 代表「綁到位、變成固定整齊的狀態」——鬆鬆的鞋帶綁緊了、散開的報紙捆成一疊，全都進入「綁好」的狀態。
常見搭配
tie up your shoelaces
綁鞋帶
to fasten your shoes with the laces
Leo stopped to tie up his shoelaces on the way to school.
tie up your hair
把頭髮綁起來
to fasten your hair back with a band
She tied up her hair before cooking dinner.
tie up a parcel
把包裹綁好
to fasten a package closed with string
He tied up the parcel neatly and wrote the address on top.
- 4v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/be too busy忙得抽不開身
口語To be so busy that you have no free time to do anything else.
「be tied up」是說一個人「忙到沒空、抽不開身」，通常用被動：I'm tied up、She's tied up in a meeting。The thread inside `up`: 想像你的時間像繩子一樣被綁住、捆死了——一段段都被事情占滿，所以你「動不了、走不開」。這跟綁東西的 tie up 是同一個畫面，只是綁住的是你的時間。
- 5v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/block / jam a system癱瘓 / 堵住
To block a road, phone line, or system so much that other people cannot use it.
「tie up」也可以指把一條路、電話線或某個系統「塞住、卡死」，讓別人沒辦法用，例如塞車（traffic is tied up）、電話一直占線（tie up the phone line）。The thread inside `up`: 想像路上的車或線路像被一個大結綁住了——全部打結、動不了，這就是「堵住、癱瘓」的畫面。這個用法在美式英語特別常見。
- 6v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/money locked up（錢）被卡住、動不了
If money is tied up in something, it is all being used for that thing and cannot be spent on anything else.
「money is tied up in something」是說一筆錢「全部押在某樣東西上、抽不出來用」，例如錢都壓在房子裡（tied up in the house）。The thread inside `up`: 想像錢被綁起來、鎖住了——它就在那裡，但你沒辦法自由地拿來花。跟「忙得抽不開身」一樣，被綁住的東西動不了，只是這次綁住的是錢。
常見搭配
money tied up in something
錢被卡在某樣東西上
money that is committed to something and not available
All our money is tied up in property right now.
tie up capital
把資金鎖住
to commit money so it cannot be used elsewhere
Buying too much stock ties up capital the business needs.
- 7v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/finalize details談妥 / 敲定
To finish arranging all the small details of a plan or an agreement.
「tie up」也可以指把一個計畫或協議的「所有細節都安排好、敲定」，例如把合約細節談妥（tie up the details）、把一筆交易談成（tie up a deal）。The thread inside `up`: 想像把一件事最後鬆散的部分綁緊、打個結收尾——細節全都「綁好、固定下來」，事情就定案了。
- 8v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/be closely connected密切相關
If one thing is tied up with another, the two are very closely connected.
「be tied up with something」是說兩件事「綁在一起、密切相關」，一件事會影響另一件，例如老師不夠跟薪水問題綁在一起（tied up with pay）。The thread inside `up`: 想像兩件事像兩條繩子被綁成一個結——拉一條，另一條就跟著動，分不開。所以它們「緊緊相連、互相牽動」。
常見搭配
tied up with something
跟某事密切相關
closely connected to something else
The plan's success is tied up with the weather.
closely tied up with
與……密不可分
very strongly connected to
His music is closely tied up with the city where he grew up.
- 9v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/finish remaining tasks收尾 / 處理善後
To finish the last small jobs that are needed to complete a piece of work.
「tie up loose ends」字面是「把鬆掉的繩頭綁起來」，意思是把一件工作最後剩下的零碎小事「處理完、收尾」。The thread inside `up`: 想像一塊布或一條繩子還有幾個鬆開的線頭（loose ends），你把它們一一綁緊收好——事情就乾淨、完整地結束了。
常見搭配
tie up loose ends
處理收尾的瑣事
to finish the last small unfinished tasks
I'll spend Friday tying up loose ends at work.
a few loose ends
一些零碎沒做完的小事
a small number of unfinished details
There are just a few loose ends left to sort out.
意思相反
leave unfinishedabandon
- 10v/ˌtaɪ ˈʌp/tether an animal拴住（動物）
To tie an animal to something with a rope or chain so it stays in one place.
「tie up an animal」是用繩子或鏈子把動物「拴在某個東西上」，讓牠待在原地不會跑掉，例如把狗拴在樹上（tie the dog up to a tree）。The thread inside `up`: up 一樣是「綁牢、固定在那裡」——動物被繩子綁住，安全地待在一個定點，不會亂跑。
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
tie upverb
- 1
To secure with rope, string, etc.
- Don't forget to tie up your hair before you bake.
- The robbers tied up the bank employees before forcing a way into the vault.
- 2
To occupy, detain, keep busy, or delay.
- He has been tying up the phone lines for hours now.
- Just how much traffic was tied up was not immediately determined but in Houston about 150 cars of grain arrived yesterday and could not be transferred to the port because of the Port Terminal Railroad picketing.
- 3
To complete, finish, or resolve.
- I'd like to tie up the project before I leave.
- Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief Elspeth Macdonald said the whitefish fleet could have had to tie up for the entire year because of the recommendation.
- 4
businessfinanceTo immobilize a capital: make a capital investment that makes that capital unavailable.
- Don't tie up your capital in aging accounts.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。