tie tack
1
6.5
- noun
- /taɪ tæk/
:
pin de corbata
- He wore a beautiful tie tack that added a touch of elegance to his outfit.
Examples
-
The tie tack falls to the floor.
Fiction book (1997) -
His favorite tie tack is one he had made out of an 1854 U.S. gold dollar, which is a bit smaller than a dime.
Academic text (2001) -
Those tie tacks can't exceed 1/2 inch in diameter and must be gold or silver in color.
Blog text (24) -
All the same, it was neatly fastened together with a hotel-logo tie tack about two inches from the bottom.
Fiction book (1994) -
Byron's tie tack jerks away from his chest and clangs onto the side of the MMR.
Fiction book (1997) -
There were a lot of clothes on my bed, and I put them all on the floor, but when Bon sat on the cover, she sat on a metal tie tack and some pieces of loose change, and she yelled and laughed, and we both laughed.
Fiction book (1990) -
The tie tack kept his necktie securely in place during the presentation.
-
She gave her husband a vintage tie tack as a gift for their anniversary.
Synonyms
2
3.0
A small metal piece that holds a tie to a shirt to keep it in place
1
8.0
A small decorative pin used to fasten or decorate a tie
1
6.1
A small decorative pin that holds a tie to a shirt
A small pin that holds a scarf or tie at the neck
How Secure
1
6.5
2
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently built from 'tie' (neckwear) + 'tack' (a small fastening pin): a pin used to fasten a tie. This straightforward noun–noun compounding follows common composition patterns (and has direct equivalents in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Tie tack comes from the simple picture of a small pin, a tack, holding a tie to a shirt. That tiny-pin image explains why it means 'a small decorative pin used to keep a tie in place'.