Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water.
  • noun A position of difficulty, perplexity, distress, or need.
  • adjective Difficult; stressful.
  • adjective Having or marked by limited funds or resources.
  • adjective Narrow or confined.
  • adjective Fitting tightly; constricted.
  • adjective Strict, rigid, or righteous.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Narrowly; tightly; closely; strictly; rigorously; strenuously; hard.
  • An old spelling of straight.
  • noun plural See cod-liver oil.
  • Narrow; having little breadth or width.
  • Confined; restricted; limited in space or accommodation; close.
  • Of time, short; scant.
  • Tight.
  • Close.
  • Strict; careful.
  • Close-fisted; stingy; avaricious.
  • Strict; rigorous; exacting.
  • Sore; great; difficult; distressing.
  • Hard-pressed; straitened; hampered.
  • noun A narrow pass or passage.
  • noun Specifically, a narrow passage of water connecting two bodies of water: often used in the plural: as, the Strait or Straits of Gibraltar; the Straits of Magellan; the Straits of Dover. Abbreviated St.
  • noun A strip of land between two bodies of water; an isthmus.
  • noun A narrow alley in London.
  • noun A tight or narrow place; difficulty; distress; need; case of necessity: often in the plural.
  • noun plural Cloth of single width, as opposed to broad cloth: a term in use in the sixteenth century and later.
  • To make strait or narrow; narrow; straiten; contract.
  • To stretch; draw tight; tighten.
  • To press hard; put to difficulties; distress; puzzle; perplex.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective obsolete A variant of straight.
  • transitive verb obsolete To put to difficulties.
  • adjective Narrow; not broad.
  • adjective Tight; close; closely fitting.
  • adjective obsolete Close; intimate; near; familiar.
  • adjective Strict; scrupulous; rigorous.
  • adjective Difficult; distressful; straited.
  • adjective obsolete Parsimonious; niggargly; mean.
  • noun A narrow pass or passage.
  • noun (Geog.) A (comparatively) narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water; -- often in the plural
  • noun rare A neck of land; an isthmus.
  • noun Fig.: A condition of narrowness or restriction; doubt; distress; difficulty; poverty; perplexity; -- sometimes in the plural.
  • adverb obsolete Strictly; rigorously.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective archaic Narrow; restricted as to space or room; close.
  • adjective archaic Righteous, strict.
  • noun geography A narrow channel of water connecting two larger bodies of water.
  • noun A difficult position (often used in plural)
  • verb obsolete To put to difficulties.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective narrow

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English streit, narrow, a strait, from Old French estreit, tight, narrow, from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere, to draw tight; see streig- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English streit, from Anglo-Norman estreit, Old French estreit (modern form étroit), from Latin strictus, perfect passive participle of stringō ("compress, tighten"). Doublet of strict.

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