taut (tat)

[Early mod. E. taught; taut line. This churl with bely stif and toght As any tabor. Chaucer , Summoner's Tale, 1. 565. For their warres they haue a great deepe platter of wood. They cover the mouth thereof with a skin; at each corner they tie a walnut, which meeting on the backside neere the bottome, with a small rope they twitch them together till it be so taught and stiffe that they may beat vpon it as vpon a drum me. Capt . John Smith , Works, I. 136. taut Hence-2. In good shape or condition; properly ordered; prepared against emergency; tidy; neat. [Now chiefly nautical in both uses.] By breakfast-time the ship was clean and taut fore and aft, her decks drying fast in the sun. W. C. Ru ell , Sailor's Sweetheart, vii. To heave taut. See heave. tautaug (ta-tâg'), n. Same as tautog . tauted (ta'ted), a. [Also tawted ; taut , var. of tate , tait , a tuft of hair (see tate ) (or tot , a flock of wool), + -ed2.] Matted; touzled; disordered: noting hair or wool. Also tawtie , tautie, tatty. [Scotch.] She was na get o' moorland tips, Wi' tauted ket an' hairy hips. Burns, Poor Mailie's Elegy. tautegorical (ta-te-gor'i-kal), α. [ legorical. Cole ridge. ( Imp. Dict.) [Rare.] tauten (ta'tn), v. [ To become taut or tense. The rigging tautened and the huge sails flapped in thunder as the Harpoon sped upon her course. H. R. Haggard , Mr. Meeson's Will, xii. II. trans. To make taut, tense, or tight; tighten; stiffen. [Rare in both uses.] 6200