tidy

 
Pronunciation: /ˈtʌɪdi/

adjective (tidier, tidiest)

  • 1arranged neatly and in order: his scrupulously tidy apartment figurative the lives they lead don’t fit into tidy patterns
  • inclined to keep things or one’s appearance neat and in order: she was a tidy little girl
  • neat and controlled: he wrote down her replies in a small, tidy hand
  • 2 [attributive] informal (of an amount, especially of money) considerable: the book will bring in a tidy sum
  • used as a general term of approval: City have the backbone of a tidy side

noun (plural tidies)

  • 1 (also tidy-up) [in singular] British an act or spell of tidying something: she’s coming to give his house its Saturday morning tidy
  • 2 [usually with modifier] a receptacle for holding small objects or waste scraps: a desk tidy
  • 3chiefly US a detachable ornamental cover for a chair back.

verb (tidies, tidying, tidied)

[with object]
  • bring order to; arrange neatly: the boys have finally tidied their bedroom figurative the Bill is intended to tidy up the law on this matter [no object]: I’ll just go and tidy up
  • (tidy something away) put something away for the sake of neatness: I was tidying away papers in my office

Derivatives

tidily

adverb

tidiness

noun

Origin:

Middle English: from the noun tide + -y1. The original meaning was 'timely, opportune'; it later had various senses expressing approval, usually of a person, including 'attractive', 'healthy', and 'skilful'; the sense 'orderly, neat' dates from the early 18th century

Spelling rule

If a word ends in a consonant plus -y, change the -y to an -i before adding any ending (unless the ending already begins with an -i): (tidier, tidiest).