- [uncountable, singular] the way in which you deal with a particular situation; the direction of your words or thoughts
- a complete change of tack
- It was a brave decision to change tack in the middle of the project.
- When threats failed, she decided to try/take a different tack.
- His thoughts wandered off on another tack.
- I find gentle persuasion is the best tack.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- right
- wrong
- different
- …
- adopt
- go off on
- take
- …
- on a/the tack
- a change of tack
- [countable, uncountable] (specialist) the direction that a boat with sails takes as it sails at an angle to the wind in order to fill its sails
- They were sailing on (a) port/starboard tack (= with the wind coming from the left/right side).
- The yacht swung to the opposite tack.
- [countable] a small nail with a sharp point and a flat head, used especially for fixing a carpet to the floor
- a carpet tack
- (also thumbtack (both North American English), British English drawing pin)[countable] a short pin with a large round, flat head, used especially for fastening paper to a board or wall see also Blu-tack™
- [countable] a long, loose stitch used for holding pieces of cloth together temporarily, before you sew them finally
- [uncountable] (specialist) the equipment that you need for riding a horse, such as a saddle and bridle
- a tack room (= the room where this equipment is kept)
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 5 Middle English (in the general sense ‘something that fastens one thing to another’): probably related to Old French tache ‘clasp, large nail’. noun sense 6 late 18th cent. (originally dialect in the general sense ‘apparatus, equipment’): contraction of tackle. The current sense dates from the 1920s.
Idioms
See tack in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary(get down to) brass tacks
- (informal) (to start to consider) the basic facts or practical details of something
Check pronunciation:
tack