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Narrow vs Compact - What's the difference?

narrow | compact | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between narrow and compact

is that narrow is to reduce in width or extent; to contract while compact is to make more dense; to compress.

narrow

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Having a small width; not wide; slim; slender; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
  • , chapter=1 citation , passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=14 citation , passage=Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.}}
  • Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.
  • * Bishop Wilkins
  • The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world.
  • (figuratively) Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude.
  • Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted.
  • a narrow''' mind; '''narrow views
  • * Macaulay
  • a narrow understanding
  • Having a small margin or degree.
  • The Republicans won by a narrow majority.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs
  • , title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia, work=BBC Sport citation , passage=As in their narrow defeat of Argentina last week, England were indisciplined at the breakdown, and if Georgian fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili had remembered his kicking boots, Johnson's side might have been behind at half-time.}}
  • (dated) Limited as to means; straitened; pinching.
  • narrow circumstances
  • Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.
  • * Smalridge
  • a very narrow and stinted charity
  • Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.
  • * Milton
  • But first with narrow search I must walk round / This garden, and no corner leave unspied.
  • (phonetics) Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; distinguished from wide.
  • Antonyms

    * wide * broad

    Derived terms

    * narrowboat, narrow boat * narrow-minded * narrowness

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To reduce in width or extent; to contract.
  • We need to narrow the search.
  • To get narrower.
  • The road narrows .
  • (knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.
  • Synonyms
    * taper

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (chiefly, in the plural) A narrow passage, especially a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water.
  • the Narrows of New York harbor
  • * Gladstone
  • Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerous narrow .
    1000 English basic words

    compact

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An agreement or contract.
  • Synonyms
    * agreement, contract, pact, treaty

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Closely packed, i.e. packing much in a small space.
  • * Isaac Newton
  • glass, crystal, gems, and other compact bodies
  • Having all necessary features fitting neatly into a small space.
  • a compact laptop computer
  • (mathematics, uncomparable, of a set in an Euclidean space) Closed and bounded.
  • A set S of real numbers is called compact if every sequence in S has a subsequence that converges to an element again contained in S.
  • (topology, uncomparable, of a set) Such that every open cover of the given set has a finite subcover.
  • Brief; close; pithy; not diffuse; not verbose.
  • a compact discourse
  • (obsolete) Joined or held together; leagued; confederated.
  • * Shakespeare
  • compact with her that's gone
  • * Peacham
  • a pipe of seven reeds, compact with wax together
  • (obsolete) Composed or made; with of .
  • * Milton
  • A wandering fire, / Compact of unctuous vapour.
    Synonyms
    * (closely packed) concentrated, dense, serried, solid, thick, tight
    Derived terms
    * compact car * compact disc * locally compact

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small, slim folding case, often featuring a mirror, powder and a powderpuff; that fits into a woman's purse or handbag, or that slips into ones pocket.
  • A broadsheet newspaper published in the size of a tabloid but keeping its non-sensational style.
  • * 2012 , BBC News: Dundee Courier makes move to compact [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-16576612]:
  • The Dundee Courier has announced the newspaper will be relaunching as a compact later this week. Editor Richard Neville said a "brighter, bolder" paper would appear from Saturday, shrunk from broadsheet to tabloid size.

    See also

    *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make more dense; to compress.
  • * '>citation
  • To unite or connect firmly, as in a system.
  • * Bible, Eph. iv. 16
  • The whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth.
    Synonyms
    * (make more dense) compress, condense

    Anagrams

    * English heteronyms ----