tight

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
tight/tʌɪt/

▶adjective

• 1 fixed or fastened firmly; hard to move, undo, or open.

  ■ (of clothes) close-fitting, especially uncomfortably so.

  ■ (of a grip) very firm.

  ■ well sealed against something such as water or air.

• 2 (of a rope, fabric, or surface) stretched so as to leave no slack.

  ■ tense: a tight smile.

• 3 (of a form of control) strictly imposed: security was tight at the ceremony.

• 4 (of a written work or form) concise.

• 5 (of an organization or group) disciplined or well coordinated.

• 6 (of an area or space) allowing little room for manoeuvre.

  ■ (of money or time) limited; restricted: a tight deadline.

• 7 secretive.

• 8 Brit. informal not willing to spend or give much money; mean.

• 9 informal drunk.

▶adverb very firmly, closely, or tensely.

– phrases
a tight ship a strictly controlled and disciplined organization or operation.
a tight corner (or spot or place) a difficult situation.

– derivatives
tighten verb,
tightly adverb,
tightness noun.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘healthy, vigorous’, later ‘firm, solid’): prob. an alt. of thight ‘firm, solid’, later ‘close-packed, dense’, of Gmc origin.