核心畫面
Picture turning a screw or a bolt until it grips hard and won't budge — making something tight, taking out all the slack and looseness. That move from loose to firm is the whole verb: pulling a rope taut, muscles going stiff with feeling, a grip closing harder, and on into the figurative — control, rules, and even a race all getting 'tighter', meaning less slack, less room to slip, less give.
可以想成把螺絲或螺栓一直轉到緊咬、再也轉不動——讓東西變緊，把所有的鬆和晃都收掉。這「由鬆轉緊」的動作比較像整個動詞…更多收起
可以想成把螺絲或螺栓一直轉到緊咬、再也轉不動——讓東西變緊，把所有的鬆和晃都收掉。這「由鬆轉緊」的動作比較像整個動詞：把繩子拉到繃直、肌肉因情緒而僵緊、手握得更牢，再延伸到比喻——掌控、規定、甚至一場比賽都變得更「緊」，也就是更少鬆動、更難滑掉、更沒有餘地。原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，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。
tightenverb/ˈtaɪ.tən/
- 1
To make tighter.
- Please tighten that screw a quarter-turn.
- Just where I please, with tighten;d rein / I'll urge thee round the dusty plain.
- 2
To become tighter.
- That joint is tightening as the wood dries.
- 3
economicssciencesTo make money harder to borrow or obtain.
- If the government doesn't tighten the money supply, inflation is certain to be harsh.
- 4
economicssciencesTo raise short-term interest rates.
- The Fed is expected to tighten by a quarter-point.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。