narrow
/ˈnæɹəʊ/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms narrower narrowest narrows narrowing narrowed narrowe
- adjective Having a small width; not wide; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth. “a narrow hallway”
- adjective Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.
- adjective (figuratively) Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude. “a narrow interpretation”
- adjective Having a small margin or degree. “a narrow escape”
- adjective (dated) Limited as to means; straitened “narrow circumstances”
- adjective Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.
- adjective Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.
- adjective (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.
- 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”
- verb (transitive) To reduce in width or extent; to contract. “We need to narrow the search.”
- verb (intransitive) To get narrower. “The road narrows.”
- verb (of a person or eyes) To partially lower one's eyelids in a way usually taken to suggest a defensive, aggressive or penetrating look. “He stepped in front of me, narrowing his eyes to slits.”
- verb (knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.
- verb (transitive, programming) To convert to a data type that cannot hold as many distinct values. “to narrow an int variable to a short variable”
Synonyms
close filamentous fine slender slim strait thin tight taper contract pin down peg down nail down narrow down specify specialize specialise constrict constringe narrow-minded minute
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English narow, narowe, narewe, narwe, naru, from Old English nearu (“narrow, strait, confined, constricted, not spacious, limited, petty; limited, poor, restricted; oppressive, causing anxiety (of that which restricts free action of body or mind), causing or accompanied by difficulty, hardship, oppressive; oppressed, not having free action; strict, severe”), from Proto-West Germanic *naru, from Proto-Germanic *narwaz (“constricted, narrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ner- (“to turn, bend, twist, constrict”).
Cognate with North Frisian naar, noar, noor, nåår (“narrow”), Saterland Frisian noar (“narrow”), Dutch naar (“nasty, scary; sickening, unpleasant”), Danish and Swedish nor (“narrow strait”); also Sanskrit नृत् (nṛt, “to dance; act on stage, represent”).
From Middle English narwen (“to narrow”); see there for more details, but ultimately derived from the noun.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective 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.
- adjective Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.
- noun 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.
- verb To lessen the breadth of; to contract; to draw into a smaller compass; to reduce the width or extent of. Sir W. Temple.
Etymology [OE. narwe, naru, AS. nearu; akin to OS. naru, naro.]
Etymology [AS. nearwian.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “narrow”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details