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tie
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As a noun, tie means a knot. As a verb, it means twist (a string, rope, or the like) around itself securely.
Meanings of tie
42 meaningsnoun
A knot; a fastening.
A knot of hair, as at the back of a wig.
A necktie (item of clothing consisting of a strip of cloth tied around the neck). See also bow tie, black tie.
A lace-up shoe.
“Oxford ties; Derby ties”
A twist tie, a piece of wire embedded in paper, strip of plastic with ratchets, or similar object which is wound around something and tightened.
A strong connection between people or groups of people.
“the sacred ties of friendship or of duty”
“the ties of allegiance”
constructionA structural member firmly holding two pieces together.
“Ties work to maintain structural integrity in windstorms and earthquakes.”
rail transportUSA horizontal wooden or concrete structural member that supports and ties together rails.
The situation in which two or more participants in a competition are placed equally.
“It's two outs in the bottom of the ninth, tie score.”
cricketThe situation at the end of all innings of a match where both sides have the same total of runs (different from a draw).
sportsUSAn equalizer, a run, goal, point, etc which causes participants in a competition to be placed equally or have the same score(s).
sportsUKA meeting between two players or teams in a competition.
“The FA Cup third round tie between Liverpool and Cardiff was their first meeting in the competition since 1957.”
musicA curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch denoting that they should be played as a single note with the combined length of both notes.
phonetic transcriptionA curved line connecting two letters (⁀), used in the IPA to denote a coarticulation, as for example /d͡ʒ/.
“Wikipedia: tie (typography)”
verb
To twist (a string, rope, or the like) around itself securely.
“Tie this rope in a knot for me, please.”
“Tie the rope to this tree.”
To form (a knot or the like) in a string or the like.
“Tie a knot in this rope for me, please.”
To attach or fasten (one thing to another) by string or the like.
“Tie him to the tree.”
sometimes figurativeTo secure (something) by string or the like.
“Tie your shoes.”
To have the same score or position as another in a competition or ordering.
“They tied for third place.”
“They tied the game.”
USTo have the same score or position as (another) in a competition or ordering.
“He tied me for third place.”
musicTo unite (musical notes) with a line or slur in the notation.
programmingIn the Perl programming language, to extend (a variable) so that standard operations performed upon it invoke custom functionality instead.
Limit or restrict to
“I am tied to UNIX”
“These big jets are tied to large airports”
Older and rare meanings (1)
USdatedcolloquialTo believe; to credit.
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).