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Jody
what does "pretty tightly wound "mean?
“But instead,” he said, “you waited. You waited all that evening, having watched her leave the building. You must have been pretty tightly wound by then. You’d had time to formulate a rough plan. You’d been watching the street; you knew exactly who was in the building, and who wasn’t; you’d worked out that there might just be a means of getting clean away, without anyone being the wiser. And let’s not forget—you’d killed before. That makes a difference.”
Nov 16, 2013 4:10 PM
Answers · 1
It means someone is tense, not relaxed. It often means they can be easily startled, or are ready to spring into action.
Think of a coil spring (that looks like a spiral) or even a stiff sheet of paper that you roll up - if you wind it tightly (wrap it until it's a very small diameter and there is a lot of pressure), then you let go, it will almost explode outward. It's a similar concept here with the expression "tightly wound".
November 16, 2013
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Jody
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English, French
Learning Language
English, French
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