- tie yourself in knots
- informal
to become very confused or worried because you are in a difficult situation
I was tying myself in knots trying to explain what happened without getting him into trouble.
English dictionary. 2014.
tie yourself in knots
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tie yourself in knots — informal phrase to become very confused or worried because you are in a difficult situation I was tying myself in knots trying to explain what happened without getting him into trouble. Thesaurus: to worry or feel nervous about somethingsynonym… … Useful english dictionary
tie yourself up in knots — tie yourself (up) in knots 1 : to cause problems for yourself because you are being too careful, trying too hard, etc. The mayor tied himself in knots answering a touchy political question. [=he answered it in a confused or unclear way] 2 : to… … Useful english dictionary
tie (yourself) (up) in knots — 1. to become very confused or worried when you are trying to make a decision or solve a problem. They tied themselves in knots over the seating arrangements. (often + over) 2. to become very confused when you are trying to explain something. She… … New idioms dictionary
tie yourself up in knots — If you tie yourself up in knots, you become totally confused or confuse others when trying to explain something. Sandy tied herself up in knots trying to explain the rules of the game … English Idioms & idiomatic expressions
tie yourself (up) in knots — tie sb/yourself (up) in ˈknots idiom to become or make sb very confused • I got myself tied up in knots when I tried to explain the legal system to them. Main entry: ↑tieidiom … Useful english dictionary
tie — tie1 [ taı ] (present participle ty|ing) verb *** 1. ) transitive to fasten two ends of a piece of string, rope, etc. together with a knot: Sally bent down to tie her shoelaces. We re teaching him how to tie a necktie. a ) transitive to fasten… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
tie — [[t]ta͟ɪ[/t]] ♦♦ ties, tying, tied 1) VERB If you tie two things together or tie them, you fasten them together with a knot. [V n adv/prep] He tied the ends of the plastic bag together... [V n] Mr Saunders tied her hands and feet. 2) VERB If you… … English dictionary
tie — I UK [taɪ] / US verb Word forms tie : present tense I/you/we/they tie he/she/it ties present participle tying past tense tied past participle tied *** 1) [transitive] to make a knot with two ends of a piece of string, rope etc Sally bent down to… … English dictionary
tie — tie1 W3S2 [taı] v past tense and past participle tied present participle tying ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(string/rope)¦ 2¦(game/competition)¦ 3 be tied to something 4 be tied to/by something 5 tie the knot 6 tie yourself (up) in knots 7 tie one on … Dictionary of contemporary English
tie — 1 /taI/ verb 1 STRING/ROPE a) (T) to fasten one thing to another with a piece of string, rope etc: tie sth to/behind/onto etc: Tie this label onto your suitcase. | tie sb to sth: They tied him to a lamp post and beat him up. | tie sb s hands/feet … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
