tie up

Meaning

In business, 'tie up' has a few specific meanings. It commonly means to finalize or complete a deal or agreement (often as 'tie up loose ends'). It can also mean to restrict money, assets, or resources so they cannot be used elsewhere, or to keep someone busy and unavailable.

Examples

• We hope to tie up the contract negotiations by the end of the week.

  We hope to tie up the contract negotiations by the end of the week.

• Most of our company's capital is tied up in real estate right now.

  Most of our company's capital is tied up in real estate right now.

• I'm sorry I missed your call; I was tied up in a meeting all afternoon.

  I'm sorry I missed your call; I was tied up in a meeting all afternoon.

• Let's meet tomorrow to tie up the final details of the marketing campaign.

  Let's meet tomorrow to tie up the final details of the marketing campaign.

• This project is going to tie up our best developers for at least three months.

  This project is going to tie up our best developers for at least three months.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We need to tie up of this agreement.

  ✓ We need to tie up this agreement.

  The phrasal verb 'tie up' is transitive and takes a direct object immediately. Do not add the preposition 'of'.

• ✗ I have too much money tied down in stocks.

  ✓ I have too much money tied up in stocks.

  While 'tied down' means restricted by responsibilities, we use 'tied up' specifically for capital or assets that are locked and cannot be easily accessed.

Related Expressions

Practice

• I'd love to help you, but I'm completely ___ with this budget report today.

  💡 Busy or unavailable.

  Show answer

  tied up

• Before we launch the product, we need to ___ a few loose ends.

  💡 Finalize or complete remaining details.

  Show answer

  tie up