"tie up loose ends" meaning in All languages combined

See tie up loose ends on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: En-au-tie up loose ends.ogg Forms: ties up loose ends [present, singular, third-person], tying up loose ends [participle, present], tied up loose ends [participle, past], tied up loose ends [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*|head=tie up loose ends}} tie up loose ends (third-person singular simple present ties up loose ends, present participle tying up loose ends, simple past and past participle tied up loose ends)
  1. (idiomatic) To deal with the minor consequences of a previous action; to tidy up, finish, or complete. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: square away
    Sense id: en-tie_up_loose_ends-en-verb-Vc~fh3KE Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English predicates, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ties up loose ends",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tying up loose ends",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tied up loose ends",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tied up loose ends",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "tie up loose ends"
      },
      "expansion": "tie up loose ends (third-person singular simple present ties up loose ends, present participle tying up loose ends, simple past and past participle tied up loose ends)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Removing her name from the mailing list was her way of tying up loose ends.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 September 1, Nicholas Barber, “Five stars for I'm Thinking of Ending Things”, in BBC:",
          "text": "it is rich in detail and ideas, and it comes from a unique, uncompromising talent who likes to leave some loose ends for the viewer to tie up.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 November 13, Dickon Ross, “Opinion”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 3:",
          "text": "The measures for rail that were genuinely new were welcomed, although some had hoped for more. Many of these tied up loose ends around the network - unfinished business left hanging by the last government.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To deal with the minor consequences of a previous action; to tidy up, finish, or complete."
      ],
      "id": "en-tie_up_loose_ends-en-verb-Vc~fh3KE",
      "links": [
        [
          "deal",
          "deal"
        ],
        [
          "consequence",
          "consequence"
        ],
        [
          "tidy",
          "tidy"
        ],
        [
          "finish",
          "finish"
        ],
        [
          "complete",
          "complete"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To deal with the minor consequences of a previous action; to tidy up, finish, or complete."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "square away"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tie up loose ends.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f3/En-au-tie_up_loose_ends.ogg/En-au-tie_up_loose_ends.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/En-au-tie_up_loose_ends.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tie up loose ends"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ties up loose ends",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tying up loose ends",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tied up loose ends",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tied up loose ends",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "tie up loose ends"
      },
      "expansion": "tie up loose ends (third-person singular simple present ties up loose ends, present participle tying up loose ends, simple past and past participle tied up loose ends)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "square away"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Removing her name from the mailing list was her way of tying up loose ends.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 September 1, Nicholas Barber, “Five stars for I'm Thinking of Ending Things”, in BBC:",
          "text": "it is rich in detail and ideas, and it comes from a unique, uncompromising talent who likes to leave some loose ends for the viewer to tie up.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 November 13, Dickon Ross, “Opinion”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 3:",
          "text": "The measures for rail that were genuinely new were welcomed, although some had hoped for more. Many of these tied up loose ends around the network - unfinished business left hanging by the last government.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To deal with the minor consequences of a previous action; to tidy up, finish, or complete."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "deal",
          "deal"
        ],
        [
          "consequence",
          "consequence"
        ],
        [
          "tidy",
          "tidy"
        ],
        [
          "finish",
          "finish"
        ],
        [
          "complete",
          "complete"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To deal with the minor consequences of a previous action; to tidy up, finish, or complete."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tie up loose ends.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f3/En-au-tie_up_loose_ends.ogg/En-au-tie_up_loose_ends.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/En-au-tie_up_loose_ends.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tie up loose ends"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (e4a2c88 and 4230888). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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