to sit tight
Preserved but no longer current.
To keep your own counsel; to remain in or as in hiding. The phrase is from poker, where, if a player does not want to continue betting and at the same time does not wish to throw in his cards, he "sits tight.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to sit tight” mean?
To keep your own counsel; to remain in or as in hiding. The phrase is from poker, where, if a player does not want to continue betting and at the same time does not wish to throw in his cards, he "sits tight.
Is “to sit tight” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.