Taut \Taut\, a. [Dan. t[ae]t; akin to E. tight. See Tight.]

1. (Naut.) Tight; stretched; not slack; -- said esp. of a rope that is tightly strained. [1913 Webster]

2. Snug; close; firm; secure. [1913 Webster]

Taut hand (Naut.), a sailor's term for an officer who is severe in discipline. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

56 Moby Thesaurus words for "taut": all ataunto, anxious, apprehensive, ataunt, bungup and bilge-free, close, dragged out, drawn, drawn out, elongated, extended, firm, in suspense, in trim, keyed-up, lengthened, neat, on edge, on tenterhooks, on tiptoe, orderly, pokerlike, prolongated, prolonged, protracted, pulled, quivering, ramrodlike, renitent, rigid, rodlike, shipshape, smart, spruce, spun out, starched, starchy, stiff, stiff as buckram, straggling, strained, stretched, stretched out, stretched tight, strung out, tense, tidy, tight, trig, trim, under a strain, unrelaxed, uptight, virgate, with bated breath, with muscles tense

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

taut adj
1: pulled or drawn tight; "taut sails"; "a tight drumhead"; "a tight rope" [syn: tight]
2: subjected to great tension; stretched tight; "the skin of his face looked drawn and tight"; "her nerves were taut as the strings of a bow" [syn: drawn]

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Taut \Taut\, a. [Dan. t[ae]t; akin to E. tight. See Tight.]

1. (Naut.) Tight; stretched; not slack; -- said esp. of a rope that is tightly strained.

2. Snug; close; firm; secure.

Taut hand (Naut.), a sailor's term for an officer who is severe in discipline.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)