tight as a drum

Taut or close-fitting; also, watertight. For example, That baby's eaten so much that the skin on his belly is tight as a drum, or You needn't worry about leaks; this tent is tight as a drum. Originally this expression alluded to the skin of a drumhead, which is tightly stretched, and in the mid-1800s was transferred to other kinds of tautness. Later, however, it sometimes referred to a drum-shaped container, such as an oil drum, which had to be well sealed to prevent leaks, and the expression then signified “watertight.”

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Example Sentences

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With day-to-day spending, the Treasury will be tight as a drum, but relatively generous when it comes to capital spending.

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The dilemma is obvious: public money is tight as a drum, and Downing Street doesn't want to take cash from the NHS or other priorities at home.

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“The house was tight as a drum,” she said.

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“Tight as a drum”, was how the local beat bobby described the people on his patch.

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Labour will then need to come up with new ways of paying for those ideas at a time when public money is as tight as a drum.

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