Indicating that it is the time of year around Christmas, and that things associated with that time period are happening or likely to happen.

plural of hand-tied

To be powerless to act, to be thwarted.

(colloquial, medicine) To undergo a tubal ligation.

Alternative form of with one hand tied behind one's back

(informal, figuratively) Easily, without much effort. / (informal, figuratively) Hampered by factors outside one’s control.

A tiny woodland arachnid of the suborder Ixodida.

A relatively quiet but sharp sound generally made repeatedly by moving machinery. / A mark on any scale of measurement; a unit of measurement.

To make a clicking noise similar to the movement of the hands in an analog clock. / To make a tick or checkmark. / (informal, intransitive) To work or operate, especially mechanically.

(uncountable) Ticking. / A sheet that wraps around a mattress; the cover of a mattress, containing the filling.