Definitions for: Narrow


[n] a narrow strait connecting two bodies of water
[adj] lacking tolerance or flexibility or breadth of view; "a brilliant but narrow-minded judge"; "narrow opinions"
[adj] characterized by painstaking care and detailed examination; "a minute inspection of the grounds"; "a narrow scrutiny"; "an exact and minute report"
[adj] limited in size or scope; "the narrow sense of a word"
[adj] not wide; "a narrow bridge"; "a narrow line across the page"
[adj] very limited in degree; "won by a narrow margin"; "a narrow escape"
[v] become tight or as if tight; "Her throat constricted"
[v] make or become more narrow or restricted; "The selection was narrowed"; "The road narrowed"
[v] become more special; "We specialize in dried flowers"
[v] define clearly; "I cannot narrow down the rules for this game"



Webster (1913) Definition: 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.


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.


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.


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.

Synonyms: bare(a), careful, closed-minded, close-minded, constrict, constricting, constrictive, constringe, contract, dogmatic, dogmatical, illiberal, intolerant, limited, marginal, minute, nail down, narrow down, narrowed, narrowing, narrow-minded, opinionated, opinionative, peg down, petty, pin down, self-opinionated, slender, small-minded, specify, strait, straplike, tapered, tapering, thin

Antonyms: branch out, broad, broaden, broad-minded, diversify, wide, widen

See Also: alter, astringe, bottleneck, change, concretize, determine, narrow, narrow, narrow down, overspecialise, overspecialize, pin down, sound, specialise, specialize, strait, strangulate, taper off, tighten, vary, Verrazano Narrows

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