Adjacent Words

Narrow definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NARROW, a. I suspect this word and near to be contracted by the loss of g, nig, narrow, strait; nigiaw, to narrow; for the D. has naauw, narrow, close, G. with a prefix. In this case, the word belongs to the root of nigh; to approach.
1. Of little breadth; not wide or broad; having little distance from side to side; as a narrow board; a narrow street; a narrow sea; a narrow hem or border. It is only or chiefly applied to the surface of flat or level bodies.
2. Of little extent; very limited; as a narrow space or compass.
3. Covetous; not liberal or bountiful; as a narrow heart.
4. Contracted; of confined views or sentiments; very limited.
The greatest understanding is narrow.
In this sense and the former, it is often prefixed to mind or soul, _ c. ; as narrow-minded; narrow-souled; narrow-hearted.
5. Near; within a small distance.
6. Close; near; accurate; scrutinizing; as a narrow search; narrow inspection.
7. Near; barely sufficient to avoid evil; as a narrow escape.
NARROW, n. A strait; a narrow passage through a mountain, or a narrow channel of water between one sea or lake and another; a sound. It is usually in the plural, but sometimes in the singular.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: not wide; "a narrow bridge"; "a narrow line across the page" [ant: broad, wide]
2: limited in size or scope; "the narrow sense of a word"
3: lacking tolerance or flexibility or breadth of view; "a brilliant but narrow-minded judge"; "narrow opinions" [syn: narrow-minded, narrow] [ant: broad-minded]
4: very limited in degree; "won by a narrow margin"; "a narrow escape" [ant: wide]
5: characterized by painstaking care and detailed examination; "a minute inspection of the grounds"; "a narrow scrutiny"; "an exact and minute report" [syn: minute, narrow] n
1: a narrow strait connecting two bodies of water v
1: make or become more narrow or restricted; "The selection was narrowed"; "The road narrowed" [syn: narrow, contract] [ant: widen]
2: define clearly; "I cannot narrow down the rules for this game" [syn: pin down, peg down, nail down, narrow down, narrow, specify]
3: become more focus on an area of activity or field of study; "She specializes in Near Eastern history" [syn: specialize, specialise, narrow, narrow down] [ant: branch out, broaden, diversify]
4: become tight or as if tight; "Her throat constricted" [syn: constrict, constringe, narrow]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English narowe, from Old English nearu; akin to Old High German narwa scar Date: before 12th century 1. a. of slender width <a long and narrow room> b. of less than standard or usual width <a narrow sidewalk> c. of a textile woven in widths usually less than 18 inches (46 centimeters) 2. limited in size or scope <a narrow interpretation> 3. a. illiberal in views or disposition ; prejudiced b. chiefly dialect stingy, niggardly 4. a. barely sufficient ; close <won by a narrow margin> b. barely successful <a narrow escape> 5. minutely precise ; meticulous <a narrow inspection> 6. of an animal ration relatively rich in protein as compared with carbohydrate and fat 7. tense 3 • narrowly adverb • narrowness noun II. verb Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to decrease the breadth or extent of ; contract — often used with down 2. to decrease the scope or sphere of ; limit — often used with down <narrow down the choices> intransitive verb to lessen in width or extent ; contract — often used with down III. noun Date: 13th century a narrow part or passage; specifically a strait connecting two bodies of water — usually used in plural but sing. or plural in constr.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., n., & v. --adj. (narrower, narrowest) 1 a of small width in proportion to length; lacking breadth. b confined or confining; constricted (within narrow bounds). 2 of limited scope; restricted (in the narrowest sense). 3 with little margin (a narrow escape). 4 searching; precise; exact (a narrow examination). 5 = NARROW-MINDED. 6 (of a vowel) tense. 7 of small size. --n. 1 (usu. in pl.) the narrow part of a strait, river, sound, etc. 2 a narrow pass or street. --v. 1 intr. become narrow; diminish; contract; lessen. 2 tr. make narrow; constrict; restrict. Phrases and idioms: narrow boat Brit. a canal boat, esp. one less than 7 ft. (2.1 metres) wide. narrow circumstances poverty. narrow cloth cloth less than 52 inches wide. narrow gauge a railway track that has a smaller gauge than the standard one. narrow seas the English Channel and the Irish Sea. narrow squeak 1 a narrow escape. 2 a success barely attained. Derivatives: narrowish adj. narrowly adv. narrowness n. Etymology: OE nearu nearw- f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Narrow Nar"row, a. [Compar. Narrower; superl. Narrowest.] [OE. narwe, naru, AS. nearu; akin to OS. naru, naro.] 1. Of little breadth; not wide or broad; having little distance from side to side; as, a narrow board; a narrow street; a narrow hem. Hath passed in safety through the narrow seas. --Shak. 2. Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed. The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world. --Bp. Wilkins. 3. Having but a little margin; having barely sufficient space, time, or number, etc.; close; near; -- with special reference to some peril or misfortune; as, a narrow shot; a narrow escape; a narrow majority. --Dryden. 4. Limited as to means; straitened; pinching; as, narrow circumstances. 5. Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted; as, a narrow mind; narrow views. ``A narrow understanding.'' --Macaulay. 6. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish. A very narrow and stinted charity. --Smalridge. 7. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact. But first with narrow search I must walk round This garden, and no corner leave unspied. --Milton. 8. (Phon.) 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; as [=e] ([=e]ve) and [=oo] (f[=oo]d), etc., from [i^] ([i^]ll) and [oo^] (f[oo^]t), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect] 13. Note: Narrow is not unfrequently prefixed to words, especially to participles and adjectives, forming compounds of obvious signification; as, narrow-bordered, narrow-brimmed, narrow-breasted, narrow-edged, narrow-faced, narrow-headed, narrow-leaved, narrow-pointed, narrow-souled, narrow-sphered, etc. Narrow gauge. (Railroad) See Note under Gauge, n., 6.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Narrow Nar"row, v. i. 1. To become less broad; to contract; to become narrower; as, the sea narrows into a strait. 2. (Man.) Not to step out enough to the one hand or the other; as, a horse narrows. --Farrier's Dict. 3. (Knitting) To contract the size of a stocking or other knit article, by taking two stitches into one.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Narrow Nar"row, n.; pl. Narrows. A narrow passage; esp., a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water; -- usually in the plural; as, The Narrows of New York harbor. Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerous narrow. --Gladstone.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Narrow Nar"row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Narrowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Narrowing.] [AS. nearwian.] 1. To lessen the breadth of; to contract; to draw into a smaller compass; to reduce the width or extent of. --Sir W. Temple. 2. To contract the reach or sphere of; to make less liberal or more selfish; to limit; to confine; to restrict; as, to narrow one's views or knowledge; to narrow a question in discussion. Our knowledge is much more narrowed if we confine ourselves to our own solitary reasonings. --I. Watts. 3. (Knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(narrower, narrowest, narrows, narrowing, narrowed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Something that is narrow measures a very small distance from one side to the other, especially compared to its length or height. ...through the town's narrow streets... She had long, narrow feet. ...the narrow strip of land joining the peninsula to the rest of the island. ? wide ADJ • narrowness ...the narrowness of the river mouth. N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n 2. If something narrows, it becomes less wide. The wide track narrows before crossing another stream. VERB: V 3. If your eyes narrow or if you narrow your eyes, you almost close them, for example because you are angry or because you are trying to concentrate on something. (WRITTEN) Coggins' eyes narrowed angrily. 'You think I'd tell you?'... He paused and narrowed his eyes in concentration. ? widen VERB: V, V n 4. If you describe someone's ideas, attitudes, or beliefs as narrow, you disapprove of them because they are restricted in some way, and often ignore the more important aspects of an argument or situation. ...a narrow and outdated view of family life... = limited ? broad ADJ [disapproval] • narrowly They're making judgments based on a narrowly focused vision of the world. ADV: ADV after v, ADV -ed/adj • narrowness ...the narrowness of their mental and spiritual outlook. N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n 5. If something narrows or if you narrow it, its extent or range becomes smaller. Most recent opinion polls suggest that the gap between the two main parties has narrowed... Senate negotiators further narrowed their differences over the level of federal spending for anti-drug programs. ? widen VERB: V, V n • narrowing ...a narrowing of the gap between rich members and poor. N-SING 6. If you have a narrow victory, you succeed in winning but only by a small amount. Delegates have voted by a narrow majority in favour of considering electoral reform. ADJ: usu ADJ n • narrowly She narrowly failed to win enough votes... ADV • narrowness The narrowness of the government's victory reflected deep division within the Party. N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n 7. If you have a narrow escape, something unpleasant nearly happens to you. Two police officers had a narrow escape when separatists attacked their vehicles. ADJ: ADJ n • narrowly Five firemen narrowly escaped death when a staircase collapsed beneath their feet. ADV: ADV with v 8. on the straight and narrow: see straight

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Of little breadth. 2. Contracted, circumscribed, limited, confined, straitened, cramped, pinched, scanty, incapacious. 3. Limited, straitened, pinched, scanty. 4. Bigoted. 5. Ungenerous, parsimonious, covetous, mercenary, illiberal, avaricious, niggardly, mean, selfish. 6. Close, near. 7. Close, near, accurate, scrutinizing, careful, exact, attentive. II. v. a. 1. Contract. 2. Cramp, restrict, limit, confine.

Moby Thesaurus

Lenten, Quakerish, Spartan, Victorian, abate, abbreviate, abstemious, accented, accurate, adjust to, alter, alveolar, angustifoliate, angustirostrate, angustisellate, angustiseptal, apical, apico-alveolar, apico-dental, articulated, ascetic, assimilated, assuage, attentive, attenuated, austere, authoritarian, back, badly off, barytone, be into, be strong in, bigot, bigoted, bilabial, borne, bound, bounded, box, box in, box up, broad, cacuminal, careful, censorious, central, cerebral, channel, checked, chinchy, circumscribe, circumscribed, close, close-fitting, closed, coarct, compact, compress, concentrate, condense, condition, conditioned, confine, confined, confining, conscientious, consolidate, consonant, consonantal, constrict, constricted, constringe, contain, continuant, contract, copyright, copyrighted, correct, cramp, cramped, creedbound, critical, crowded, curtail, deaf, deaf to reason, decrease, delicate, demanding, demure, denotative, dental, detailed, determinate, diminish, discipline, disciplined, dissimilated, distill, distressed, dorsal, down to bedrock, draw, draw in, draw the line, draw together, dwarfed, dwarfish, embarrassed, ethnocentric, exact, exacting, exceptional, excluding, exclusive, exclusory, exigent, exiguous, exquisite, fanatical, feature, feeling the pinch, fine, finical, finicking, finicky, finite, fixed, flat, focus, follow, front, frugal, fussy, glide, glossal, glottal, go in, go in for, guttural, hairbreadth, hard, hard up, heavy, hedge, hedge about, hem, hem in, hidebound, high, ill off, illiberal, impecunious, impoverished, in Queer Street, in narrow circumstances, in reduced circumstances, in straitened circumstances, inadmissible, incapacious, incommodious, ineffectual, inexorable, inflexible, insular, intolerant, intonated, isthmian, isthmic, jejune, keep from spreading, keep within bounds, knit, labial, labiodental, labiovelar, land-poor, lateral, lax, lean, leaven, lessen, light, limit, limited, lingual, liquid, little, little-minded, localize, low, lucky, major in, meager, mean, mean-minded, mean-spirited, mercenary, meticulous, mid, mid-Victorian, mingy, minor in, minute, miserly, mitigate, moderate, moderated, modify, modulate, monophthongal, muted, narrow-hearted, narrow-minded, narrow-souled, narrow-spirited, narrowed, narrowing, narrows, nasal, nasalized, near, nearsighted, nice, niggard, niggardly, obdurate, occlusive, old-maidish, on the edge, open, out of pocket, overmodest, oversimplify, oxytone, palatal, palatalized, palliate, paltry, parochial, parsimonious, particular, passage, patent, patented, petty, pharyngeal, pharyngealized, phonemic, phonetic, phonic, pinched, pitch, pitched, poor, poorly off, posttonic, precise, precisianistic, precisionistic, preclusive, prescribed, prescriptive, preventive, priggish, prim, prohibitive, proscribed, provincial, prudish, pucker, pucker up, punctilious, punctual, puny, purblind, purify, puritanical, purse, pursue, qualified, qualify, reduce, reduce to elements, reduced, refine, refined, register, regulate by, religious, restrain, restrict, restricted, restrictive, retroflex, rigid, rigorous, rounded, sanctimonious, scant, scanty, scrawny, scrimp, scrimpy, scrupulous, scrutinizing, searching, season, seclusive, segregative, select, selective, semivowel, separative, set, set conditions, set limits, sharp, short, short of cash, short of funds, shorten, shortsighted, simplify, skimp, skimpy, slender, slight, slim, small, small-minded, smug, snape, snobbish, soft, soften, solidify, sonant, spare, sparing, specialize, specialize in, squeezed, starvation, stiff-necked, stingy, stint, stinted, stopped, strait, straiten, straitened, straitlaced, straits, strangle, strangulate, strapped, streamline, stressed, strict, strip down, strong, stuffy, stunted, subsistence, subtle, surd, syllabic, taper, tapering, temper, tense, thick, thin, throaty, tight, tight-fisted, tighten, tonal, tonic, twangy, unaccented, uncatholic, uncharitable, ungenerous, unliberal, unmoneyed, unnourishing, unnutritious, unprosperous, unrounded, unstressed, velar, vocalic, vocoid, voiced, voiceless, vowel, vowellike, watered, watery, weak, wide, wrinkle, xenophobic