tighten (up) v.
1. (US black) to get drunk.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Home to Harlem 27: What did I want to tighten up mahself and crow and strut like a crazy cat for? |
2. to persuade, to make someone do what one desires, esp. in the context of a confidence game or of gambling.
| Big Con 14: This [...] ‘tightened up’ the mark and made him ripe to be put on the send for more money. | |
| Really the Blues 218: The sharks was droppin’ shucks like the Yellow Kid, tryin’ to tighten her. | |
| Street Players 112: Baby Ray tightened the bitch up before they went back to court. |
3. (US gambling/und.) to begin the full-scale fleecing of a victim who has been lulled into a sense of security.
| Hustler 157: [T]he first day I tightened up on the guy I beat him out of thirty-some dollars! [...] Now when you start you let the guy win two games and you win one. When you tighten up, you let him win one and you win two. When you really tighten up you let him win one and you win three. |
4. (drugs) to give or sell narcotics (to a desperate addict).
| Ripping and Running 155: Hey, y’know man, look, I’d tighten you up, man, but look, I’m strung. | |
| Fort Apache, The Bronx 185: I’ll get you weight just like I promised [...] Call me tomorrow morning. I’ll tighten you up tomorrow morning, man, I promise. | |
| Homeboy 15: If you don’t tighten me up, I’ll be too sick to work. |
5. (US drugs) to take (another) dose of a drug, to maintain a state of intoxication.
 | N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 19 July 13: I need something to tighten my head. | |
| Vulture (1996) 80: The last day a school is tomorrow, so after that we’ll be tightenin’ up regular. | |
| Ripping and Running 154: I still need somethin to tighten me up. | |
| Fort Apache, The Bronx 217: He drank about ten screwdrivers and snorted coke to keep himself sober. Every time he went to the bathroom to tighten up the barmaid smiled knowingly. |
6. (US black) to become nervous.
| Outside Shot 137: [A]fter a while I didn’t tighten up if he [i.e. a teacher] called on me. |
7. (US black) to criticize, to urge someone to a better life.
| Juba to Jive. |
8. (US black) to render secure.
| ‘the life you need to have’ in What They Found 42: ‘[I]t’s like when guys go into the army and they need to tighten up the home front,’ Elena said. | |
| Lockdown 186: ‘Maybe tighten up a gig with the post office. Nine to five’. |
In phrases
(US) to repay a debt.
| Campus Sl. Mar. | |
| Homeboy 239: I’ll tighten you up, yeah, once I got my own zuuzuus and whamwhams. | |
| Under A Hoodoo Moon 119: We just looked out for each other; he kept me tightened up with zuzus (sweets) from the kitchen. |
1. to take control of one’s life or of a situation in which one is interested.
| ‘The Kinetic Element in Black Idiom’ in Kochman Rappin’ and Stylin’ Out 169: Control, as manifested by such expressions as ‘getting oneself together,’ ‘taking care of business,’ ‘tightening your game.’. | |
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 128: Terms like to let your game slip [...] mean that you are losing a grip on yourself and you need to tighten up your game. | |
| Pimp’s Rap 136: We got to play it conservative [...] We just got to tighten up our game. |
2. to behave in a sensible, positive manner, to maintain one’s image, to act in a self-beneficial manner.
| Hy Lit’s Unbelievable Dict. of Hip Words 18: get right – Tighten your game. | |
| Street Players 25: A couple of well-placed punches upside your head will make you tighten your game. |