1
: a slowdown or stoppage of traffic, business, or operation (as by a mechanical breakdown)
2
: connection, association
helpful financial tie-ups
3
a
: a cow stable
also
: a space for a single cow in a stable
b
: a mooring place for a boat
tied up; tying up or tieing up; ties up
1
: to attach, fasten, or bind securely
also
: to wrap up and fasten
2
a
: to connect closely : join
tie up the loose ends
b
: to cause to be linked so as to depend on or relate to something
3
a
: to place or invest in such a manner as to make unavailable for other purposes
their money was tied up in stocks
b
: to restrain from normal movement, operation, or progress
traffic was tied up for miles
4
a
: to keep busy
was tied up in conference all day
b
: to preempt the use of
tied up the phone for an hour
1
: dock entry 2
the ferry ties up at the south slip
2
: to assume a definite relationship
this ties up with what I told you before
Synonyms
Examples of tie-up in a Sentence
Noun
a tie-up at the junction of Main and Central has slowed traffic to a crawl
in a tie-up with the film studio, the toy company is producing a whole line of figures featuring characters from the animated movie
Verb
an accident is tying up traffic at 5th and Broadway
Recent Examples on the Web
Katie Fehrenbacher, Axios, 5 Nov. 2024
Execs at both companies see the tie-up as a merger of equals, not one party acquiring the other.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 5 Nov. 2024
Zac Ntim, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2024
Bezos’ fortune, which is mostly tied up in Amazon shares, rose as much as $12.2 billion after market open from $204.3 billion the day prior, the largest daily jump in net worth for any billionaire on Friday.
—Lindsey Choo, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tie-up 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Noun
Yes, but: Energy regulators are still navigating the recent wave of deals between nuclear plants and data centers, and some worry that the tie-ups could threaten grid reliability and raise utility bills.
—Katie Fehrenbacher, Axios, 5 Nov. 2024
Execs at both companies see the tie-up as a merger of equals, not one party acquiring the other.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
This isn’t necessarily new but the difference is how the gallery is tied up with the exhibition of certain kinds of cinema, which is slightly worrying.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2024
Bezos’ fortune, which is mostly tied up in Amazon shares, rose as much as $12.2 billion after market open from $204.3 billion the day prior, the largest daily jump in net worth for any billionaire on Friday.
—Lindsey Choo, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tie-up
Dictionary Entries Near tie-up
Cite this Entry
“Tie-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tie-up. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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