How to Use tighten up in a Sentence

tighten up

phrasal verb
  • There’s a lot for Williams and the offense as a whole to tighten up and improve.
    — Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 11 Aug. 2024
  • By the time the schedule tightens up in May, Ohtani could be ready to return to pitching.
    — Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2025
  • But since then, firms have taken more steps to tighten up their rules.
    — Gillian Tan, Fortune, 22 May 2024
  • One more slow start and the Heat might tighten up beyond repair.
    — Tara Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2023
  • Largo tightened up its zone defense and the Bears just couldn’t find an answer.
    — Mike Frainie, Baltimore Sun, 16 Mar. 2024
  • So, her first instinct was to tighten up and be prepared.
    — Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 9 Apr. 2024
  • So, her first instinct was to tighten up and be prepared.
    — Danielle Bacher, People.com, 10 Dec. 2024
  • When Bailey’s side tightened up, Casali was prepared to step in.
    — Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic, 20 Aug. 2024
  • The caffeine in coffee tightens up the blood-brain barrier and can decrease how much of the drug makes it to your brain.
    — Courtney Southwick, Health, 23 July 2024
  • The coaching staff would tell you the offense needs to get better in every regard, and there is a lot to tighten up.
    — Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 23 Oct. 2024
  • The Lynx tightened up its defense to slow down the Mercury’s ball movement and the team only made two on 11 attempts in the second half.
    — Jenna Ortiz, The Arizona Republic, 26 May 2023
  • But the message from Dutcher during a timeout was, ahem, to tighten up the defense.
    — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The Spurs will need to tighten up defensively and find a way to slow down a Knicks team that's firing on all cylinders.
    — Andy Biggs, Newsweek, 25 Dec. 2024
  • When Thorne first joined forces with Hewlett, the focus was on tightening up some of his mechanics.
    — Ainslie Lee | [email protected], al, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Then Oettinger tightened up, and the top line responded.
    — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 12 May 2023
  • The win was dominant across the board, but there were still areas the Crimson Tide could stand to tighten up before Texas comes to Tuscaloosa next week.
    — Matt Stahl | [email protected], al, 3 Sep. 2023
  • Then, Ryan felt his forearm tighten up after the third inning.
    — Fabian Ardaya, The Athletic, 10 Aug. 2024
  • More commonly known as a charley horse, a nighttime leg cramp is when the muscles in a leg quickly tighten up.
    — Erica Lamberg, Fox News, 4 Feb. 2024
  • The team has spent the past three weeks working out the kinks, tightening up holes on the defensive side, and bolstering its roster.
    — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
  • Polling tightened up toward the end of Kelly's race for governor, too.
    — Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Oct. 2024
  • Another Reddit poster suggests there may be a cat and mouse game behind the scenes as Google tightens up.
    — Zak Doffman, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
  • New York tightened up defensively on the other end of the ice, keeping the Golden Knights to only seven shots in the third.
    — Peter Baugh, The Athletic, 3 Feb. 2025
  • The game tightened up from there, but the Americans never really got close.
    — Sean McIndoe, The Athletic, 14 Feb. 2025
  • Can’t give up both The Suns have tried to tighten up giving up points in the paint with ball containment, gap control and creating a tighter shell on that end.
    — Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic, 8 Jan. 2024
  • Melton, who had issues with his back all last season, had his mid-back tighten up Tuesday morning, so the team sat him out of caution.
    — Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 15 Oct. 2024
  • In Game 2, Florida’s defense tightened up and limited the Oilers from getting good looks for most of the night.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 11 June 2024
  • The Gators tightened up on defense in the second half and dominated inside.
    — Mark Long, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2024
  • With the exception of my tensor fasciae latae (TFL) muscle tightening up and the nagging cold, the rest of my body felt okay.
    — Michael Clinton, Men's Health, 14 June 2023
  • His forearm tightened up while warming up before the fourth inning.
    — Anthony Gharib, USA TODAY, 8 Aug. 2023
  • My complexion had a healthy glow, felt incredibly smooth to the touch, seemed to have tightened up (in a good way) and any usual redness across my cheeks was completely gone.
    — Maya Gandara, StyleCaster, 15 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tighten up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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