Word: taut Part of Speech: adj Etymology: The adjective is derived from Middle English taught [and other forms], Early Middle English tohte, towehte (“strained, stretched; distended; tight; firm”), probably from tough, touth, touʒth, toʒt (“powerful, strong; fierce, violent; not tender, tough; hardy, resilient; steadfast, stout; difficult to do or endure”) and possibly influenced by togen, towen, past participle of ten (“to extend, stretch out; to drag, haul, pull, tow, tug”) (modern English tee (“(obsolete) to draw, lead; to draw away; to go, proceed”)), or directly from its etymon Old English tēon (“to drag, draw, pull”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull”)) The word may be related to thight (“(dialectal) compact, dense; close-fitting, tight”) and tight; and is cognate with Scots tacht, taght (“taut”). The verb is probably derived from the adjective. Pronunciation: /tɔːt/, /toːt/, /tɔt/, /tɑt/ 1. Under tension, like a stretched bowstring, rope, or sail; tight. Labels: also, figuratively Example: The pressure pad which holds the film taut as it passes the reproducing light beam must apply just the right amount of pressure. Example: The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current so strong she pulled upon her anchor. All around the hull, in the blackness, the rippling current bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream. 2. Not flabby; firm, toned; (of a person) having a lean, strong body. Labels: usually Example: I watched him from the side as he strode along. His walk was quite different; his face too looked tauter. Example: In a sense, Michelangelo's David is everything his Bacchus was not: firmly in control of himself while the god of wine was teetering on the brink of dissolution; his senses heightened while Bacchus's are dulled. Where one is taut, the other is flaccid. David's toned, athletic body contrasts with Bacchus's effeminate form, illustrating the dichotomy in Michelangelo's mind between the active masculine force and the passive feminine. 3. Containing only relevant parts; brief and controlled. Labels: usually Example: If he curbs his swing a little and gets something crisper and tauter in his methods he may yet be very good. Example: The superbly crafted suspense thriller that director Jonathan Demme has made from Thomas Harris's taut best-selling novel The Silence of the Lambs slams you like a sudden blast of bone-chilling, pulse-pounding terror. 4. Experiencing anxiety or stress. Labels: figuratively Example: His outward appearance was calm, but inside he was very taut. 5. Neat and well-disciplined; (by extension) efficient and in order. Labels: usually Example: [O]ur friend was a hearty toper in the days of his Whiggery, but no sooner turned one of the tautest of Tories, than he took to the tea-pot. It seems a thing against nature. Example: [T]he astonished boy looked round him, and wondered if this could really be the trim, taut ship he had read of. The deck was so encumbered with foul-smelling casks, coils of rope, and masses of rubbish, that there was no room to move; and Jack felt at a loss where to fly to be out of the way of the busy, swearing crew. 6. Strong; uncompromising. Example: Yet the 2016 Éxilé rosé from Lise et Bertrand Jousset in the Loire Valley, made mostly of gamay, was yeasty let light and lithe, while the 2016 Indigeno from Ancarani in Emilia-Romagna, made of trebbiano, was taut and earthy.