| 词汇 | tight as a tick |
| 释义 | Idiom (as) full as a tick and (as) tight as a tick Theme: FULLNESS very full of food or drink. (Informal. Refers to a tick that has filled itself full of blood.)Little Billy ate and ate until he was as tight as a tick.Our cat drank the cream until he became full as a tick. Slang tight as a tick Theme: INTOXICATED - ALCOHOL mod. alcohol intoxicated.The old man was tight as a tick, but still lucid.The host got tight as a tick and fell in the pool. Theme: TIGHT mod. very tight.This lid is screwed on tight as a tick.The windows were closed—tight as a tick—to keep the cold out. (as) tight as a tick1. 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. *tight as a tick1. 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. tight as a tickDrunk, 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] tight as a tickextremely drunk. informalThe 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. tight as a tickverbSee as tight as a tick tight as a tickIntoxicated. 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.” |
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