tie sth up
phrasal verb with tie verb uk/taɪ/ ustying | tied | tied
if money is tied up, it is invested in something and not available for spending on something else:
No investor should have more than 20% of their net worth tied up in any one stock.
Some of the capital tied up in its stores could be unlocked to launch the business overseas.
to agree all the details of a business arrangement:
The company has tied up a deal with a cable network understood to be worth around £22m.
to use a piece of equipment so that it cannot be used by anyone else, usually for a long time:
The phone lines were tied up all day by customers worried about losing their savings.