What's the difference between firm and taut?

Firm


Definition:

  • (superl.) Fixed; hence, closely compressed; compact; substantial; hard; solid; -- applied to the matter of bodies; as, firm flesh; firm muscles, firm wood.
  • (superl.) Not easily excited or disturbed; unchanging in purpose; fixed; steady; constant; stable; unshaken; not easily changed in feelings or will; strong; as, a firm believer; a firm friend; a firm adherent.
  • (superl.) Solid; -- opposed to fluid; as, firm land.
  • (superl.) Indicating firmness; as, a firm tread; a firm countenance.
  • (a.) The name, title, or style, under which a company transacts business; a partnership of two or more persons; a commercial house; as, the firm of Hope & Co.
  • (a.) To fix; to settle; to confirm; to establish.
  • (a.) To fix or direct with firmness.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Villagers, including one man who has been left disabled and the relatives of six men who were killed, are suing ABG in the UK high court, represented by British law firm Leigh Day, alleging that Tanzanian police officers shot unarmed locals.
  • (2) However, direct measurements of mediator release should be carried out to reach a firm conclusion.
  • (3) Video games specialist Game was teetering on the brink of collapse on Friday after a rescue deal put forward by private equity firm OpCapita appeared to have been given the cold shoulder by lenders who are owed more than £100m.
  • (4) One is that the issue of whether the World Cup should go ahead in Russia and Qatar still firmly remains on the table.
  • (5) Neil Blessitt Bristol • We need to establish what the legal position is with regard to the establishment by the government of a private company co-owned by the Department of Health and the French firm Sopra Steria.
  • (6) Particular attention has been paid to diabetes mellitus and chronic pancreatitis, but a firm conclusion cannot be drawn.
  • (7) Pupils who disrupt the learning of their classmates are dealt with firmly and, in many cases, a short suspension is an effective way of nipping bad behaviour in the bud."
  • (8) Cloning of the A-T allele(s) will assist in the early or prenatal diagnosis of A-T and provide a firm basis for determining who, in the general population, carries this gene and is therefore at a high risk of cancer.
  • (9) We are firmly opposed to that," an unidentified spokesman from the ministry of industry and information technology told the state news agency, Xinhua.
  • (10) Officers arrested her last month during the protest against oil drilling by the energy firm Cuadrilla at Balcombe in West Sussex – a demonstration Lucas has attended several times.
  • (11) "At the moment there are about 1,600 criminal justice firms, and they all have a contract with the lord chancellor.
  • (12) VAT increases don't just hit the poor more than the rich, they also hit small firms, threaten retail jobs and, by boosting inflation, could also lead to higher interest rates."
  • (13) Her story is an incredible tale of triumph over tragedy: a tormented childhood during China's Cultural Revolution, detention and forced exile after exposing female infanticide – then glittering success as the head of a major US technology firm.
  • (14) We firmly believe that a systematic approach to the 12-lead ECG can provide information that can diagnose the difference between ventricular and supraventricular tachycardia, and in many instances diagnose the mechanism and site of origin of the supraventricular tachycardia.
  • (15) Terry Waite Chair, Benedict Birnberg Deputy chair, Antonio Ferrara CEO The Prisons Video Trust • If I want to build a bridge, I call in a firm of civil engineers who specialise in bridge-building.
  • (16) The court hearing – in a case of the kind likely to be heard in secret if the government's justice and security bill is passed – was requested by the law firm Leigh Day and the legal charity Reprieve, acting for Serdar Mohammed, tortured by the Afghan security services after being transferred to their custody by UK forces.
  • (17) Doubts about Hinkley Point have deepened after a detailed report by HSBC’s energy analysts described eight key challenges to the project, which will be built by the state-backed French firm EDF and be part-financed by investment from China .
  • (18) China's relations with the NTC were strained last week when it emerged Chinese arms firms had talked to Muammar Gaddafi's representatives about weapons sales .
  • (19) It may not point to independence – nor, given that large swaths of Wales remain firmly dominated by Labour, mean any huge advance for Plaid Cymru.
  • (20) In order to identify these anchorage structures, the non-DNA materials that remain firmly bound to chromosomal DNA under conditions that disintegrate the high salt-stable architecture of nuclei were investigated.

Taut


Definition:

  • (a.) Tight; stretched; not slack; -- said esp. of a rope that is tightly strained.
  • (a.) Snug; close; firm; secure.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The first symptom is usually Raynaud's phenomenon, followed by skin changes; at the beginning the skin is swollen and oedematous, and then becomes thick, taut, shiny and atrophic.
  • (2) The first mechanism is based on the extraordinary obliquity of the constantly taut PCL guiding bundle, which produces torque in the final extension stage.
  • (3) Arthroscopic evaluations revealed that the allografts were elaborately remodeled, viable, and taut.
  • (4) The zonular traction maintained the posterior capsule taut so that the vitreous pressure was distributed equally over the entire surface of the capsular diaphragm.
  • (5) An age-related decline of performance occurred in most of the sensory-motor tasks; locomotor activity was reduced in a novel environment and in a runwheel, and the ability to prevent falling was reduced in tests on a taut wire, rotorod, inclined screen, and several types of elevated bridges.
  • (6) Cibacron Blue F3GA dye has been used to probe subtle conformational changes in protein structure associated with the conversion of Escherichia coli glutamine synthetase (GS) between relaxed, taut, oxidized, and dissociated forms.
  • (7) The taut transverse metatarsal ligament appears to play a critical role compressing the interdigital nerve but the exact pathomechanics producing the neuroma and the role of the intermetatarsal bursa remain unclear.
  • (8) This vertical retraction syndrome mimics Duane's syndrome and benefits from recession of the taut vertical recti.
  • (9) "The thread is pulled very taut at the moment," he says.
  • (10) Just anterior to the globular region, flattened cells are present on the surface with many taut cellular processes.
  • (11) ACL grafts did not show any biodegradation with time but maintained a thick and viable appearance, although 3 of the taut ones showed partial necrosis in the anterolateral part.
  • (12) Because the compression device was held in a static position, the only variable was the tautness of the nerve root across the tip of the device.
  • (13) In seven experiments, subjects perceived the distances from the hand of occluded metal disks attached to a taut nylon strand.
  • (14) The membranes surrounded the tack heads and extended in taut bands to form a tractional detachment of the pars plana.
  • (15) Using a cryoprobe as a "handle" can greatly facilitate resection by providing a taut surface for transection and improving visualization of ductal and vascular structures.
  • (16) Each of the cruciate ligaments contains functionally different fiber groups; one fiber bundle is always taut; numerous others are taut in intermediate or extreme positions.
  • (17) The course of the healing process was rated by 4 subjective symptoms (itching, burning, skin tautness and pain) and by the following objective criteria: number of days in the vesicular stage and duration of complete healing, abortive lesions and new lesions.
  • (18) To rule out the possibility that fusion was induced by a mechanical stress imparted by the internal pressure of a taut granule, we performed control experiments using cells in which vesicles were shrunken with hyperosmotic solutions.
  • (19) A 38-year-old HIV-seropositive homosexual man presented with fever, chills, malaise, and a cutaneous eruption consisting of indurated, shiny, erythematous plaques that were confluent on the face and scalp leading to alopecia and extreme tautness of the skin.
  • (20) Muscle spasm, tension, spasticity, taut bands, scar tissues, or fibrositic nodules can be documented.