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Narrow vs Straiten - What's the difference?

narrow | straiten |

As verbs the difference between narrow and straiten

is that narrow is to reduce in width or extent; to contract while straiten is .

As an adjective narrow

is having a small width; not wide; slim; slender; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.

As a noun narrow

is (chiefly|in the plural) a narrow passage, especially a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water.

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

    straiten

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make strait; to narrow or confine to a smaller space.
    • The channel straitened the river through the town, made it flow faster, and caused more flooding upstream.
  • (senseid) To restrict or diminish, especially financially.
  • * 1662 , , Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 67:
    • "And the reason why Birds'' are ''Oviparous'' and ''lay Eggs , but do not bring forth their yong alive, is, because there might be more plenty of them also, and that neither the Birds of prey, the Serpent nor the Fowler, should streighten their generations too much."
    Rising costs put those on fixed incomes in straitened circumstances.

    Usage notes

    To "straighten the river channel" means to remove the bends and curves, but not necessarily to narrow it. To "straiten the river channel" means to make it narrow, but not necessarily to make it straight. The same construction project could have both effects. The difference may be seen in the nautical term "strait", for example Bass Strait (off the south coast of Victoria, Australia), which is a narrow stretch of sea. It is also used in the expression "to be in dire straits", as in perilously tight circumstances.

    Anagrams

    * * *

    Alternative forms

    * streighten