belt-tightening
belt-tightening noun: a reduction in expenditure, often as a result of financial restrictions. Also the present participle and gerund of belt-tighten.
Noun
belt-tightening (plural belt-tightenings)
- A reduction in expenditure, often as a result of financial restrictions.
- By Mr. de Blasio’s third year in office, the city was employing 287,002 full-time workers, more than at any other point in its modern history, and the number continued to rise until the pandemic. The head count fell to about 313,000 as of September because of belt tightening but is expected to grow...2021 December 31, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, “De Blasio’s Costly Legacy: The Biggest City Work Force Ever”, in The New York Times
- "We need to avoid going cap in hand to government all the time to get the capital projects and rail improvements that we all want." That's the message from SLC Rail Strategy Director Ian Baxter, who has instead called on industry stakeholders, local authorities, and other scheme sponsors to be more...2022 November 30, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Industry urged to be more innovative on rail funding”, in RAIL, number 971, page 18
Adjective
belt-tightening (comparative more belt-tightening, superlative most belt-tightening)
- Causing or involving a reduction in expenditure.
- The message coming out of 10 and 11 Downing Street is that a belt-tightening autumn statement will include both tax increases and public spending cuts. Ahead of Jeremy Hunt’s announcement on 17 November , the pitch is being carefully rolled.2022 November 1, Larry Elliott, “Jeremy Hunt’s austerity plans likely to create a strong sense of deja vu”, in The Guardian
Also used as
belt-tightening is also the present participle and gerund of belt-tighten.
Forms of belt-tightening
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | belt-tightenings |
| alternative form | belt tightening |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more belt-tightening |
| superlative | most belt-tightening |
Origin of belt-tightening
From tighten one's belt.
Questions about belt-tightening
- What does belt-tightening mean?
- Belt-tightening means a reduction in expenditure, often as a result of financial restrictions.
- What part of speech is belt-tightening?
- Belt-tightening can be a noun or an adjective.
- What is the plural of belt-tightening?
- The plural of belt-tightening is belt-tightenings.
Words near belt-tightening in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: belt-tightening (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “belt-tightening.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/belt-tightening. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.