to tight lace
- phrasal verb
:
ajustar los cordones
- She had to tight lace her corset to achieve the fashionable silhouette.
Examples
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If you tight lace your boots too much, your feet might get sore.
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I need to tight lace this dress for the party.
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During the fitting, the tailor helped tight lace the dress for a perfect fit.
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Why do you always tight lace your corset?
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The dancer had to tight lace her shoes to ensure they wouldn't come off during the performance.
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Before the competition, the athlete decided to tight lace her running shoes for added support.
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To get the right shape for the evening gown, she needed to tight lace it snugly around her waist.
Synonyms
923
1.0
To fasten things together by making a knot with string or rope
145
1.5
To make something hold firmly, like a bolt or belt
132
3.2
To tie something tightly with rope or string
14
4.7
To fasten something securely with rope or cord
8
3.0
Tie the strings on shoes or boots to make them tight
To pull something like a rope until it becomes tight or to become tight
To tie something tightly with rope so it does not move
How Tight
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'lace' can be used as a verb meaning to fasten with laces, and 'tight'/tightly describes the manner, so 'to tight lace' = to fasten with laces very securely. This is a regular compositional pattern (cf. 'tight-lace' / 'tight-lacing') and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Tight lace comes from the image of pulling lace very tight across boots or a corset so the clothing fits and supports the body. So, the phrase means 'to fasten clothing very securely or tightly' because of that literal action.