tether.
A rope, cable etc. that holds something in place whilst allowing some movement.
Meaning & usage
A rope, cable etc. that holds something in place whilst allowing some movement.
The limit of one's abilities, resources, patience, etc.
Since his hours have increased, I feel that he is at the end of his tether.
An attachment to a place, time, entity or person.
Despite moving, he maintained a strong tether to his culture back home.
A strong rope or line that connects a sailor's safety harness to the boat's jackstay.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English tether, teder, from Old English *tēoder and/or Old Norse tjóðr ( > Danish tøjr, Swedish tjuder); both from Proto-Germanic *teudrą (“rope; cord; shaft”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dewtro-, from Proto-Indo-European *dew- (“to tie”), or from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Cognate with North German Tüder (“tether for binding the cattle”), Swedish tjuder (“tether for binding cattle”).
To restrict with, or as if with, a tether.
The cowboy tethered his horse outside the saloon.
To connect to something else.
To connect to something else. To connect (a smartphone) to a personal computer in order to give the computer access to the phone's Internet connection.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English tether, teder, from Old English *tēoder and/or Old Norse tjóðr ( > Danish tøjr, Swedish tjuder); both from Proto-Germanic *teudrą (“rope; cord; shaft”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dewtro-, from Proto-Indo-European *dew- (“to tie”), or from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Cognate with North German Tüder (“tether for binding the cattle”), Swedish tjuder (“tether for binding cattle”).
Alternative form of tethera.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.