tie up phrasal verb ( see also ↑ tie )
1 . PERSON tie somebody ↔ up to tie someone’s arms, legs etc so that they cannot move SYN bind :
The intruders tied Kurt up and left him.
2 . OBJECT tie something ↔ up to fasten something together, using string, rope etc:
He tied up all the old newspapers.
3 . BUSY be tied up to be very busy, so that you cannot do anything else:
I can’t see you tomorrow – I’ll be tied up all day.
4 . TRAFFIC/PHONE/COURT ETC tie something ↔ up especially American English to block a system or use it so much that other people cannot use it or it does not work effectively ⇨ tie-up :
Don’t tie up the phone lines making personal calls.
Protesters tied up the traffic for three hours today.
5 . MONEY be tied up if your money is tied up in something, it is all being used for that thing and is not available for anything else
be tied up in
My money’s all tied up in the house.
6 . ARRANGEMENTS tie something ↔ up to finish arranging all the details of something such as an agreement or a plan SYN finalize :
We’d better tie up the details with a solicitor.
7 . be tied up with something to be very closely related to something SYN be linked to :
The shortage of teachers is tied up with the issue of pay.
8 . tie up loose ends to do the things that are necessary in order to finish a piece of work:
I need to tie up a few loose ends before I go on vacation.
9 . ANIMAL tie something ↔ up to tie an animal to something with a rope, chain etc SYN tether
tie something ↔ up to
She left the dog tied up to a tree.
10 . BOAT to tie a boat to something with a rope, chain etc SYN moor :
We tied up alongside a barge.
tie something ↔ up
There was a boat tied up at the jetty.