From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha tight hold/gripa tight hold/gripif you keep or have a tight hold on something, you hold it firmly His mother kept a tight hold on his hand. → tight
Examples from the Corpus
a tight hold/grip• It should not be imagined that the tiny Party élite at either of these provincial levels could maintain a tight hold.• We got up, he pushed me roughly towards the door, keeping a tight hold of me.• She would be keeping a tight hold on her feelings from now on.• Apple, however, kept a tight grip on its technology and suffered the consequences.• He had a tight hold on the audience, totally in command of his band.• The new business manager has a tight hold on the budget.• Dominic crept carefully down the stairs, keeping a tight hold on the gleaming mahogany banister.• The purge reflects the party leadership's concern with keeping a tight hold on the political reins.• The best way for the government to achieve this is to keep a tight grip on the tigerish tendencies of the economy. 