narrow Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a narrow strait connecting two bodies of water
  2. verb make or become more narrow or restricted
    contract.
    • The selection was narrowed
    • The road narrowed
  3. verb define clearly
    nail down; pin down; narrow down; specify; peg down.
    • I cannot narrow down the rules for this game
  4. verb become more focus on an area of activity or field of study
    specialise; narrow down; specialize.
    • She specializes in Near Eastern history
  5. verb become tight or as if tight
    constrict; constringe.
    • Her throat constricted
  6. adjective not wide
    • a narrow bridge
    • a narrow line across the page
  7. adjective satellite limited in size or scope
    • the narrow sense of a word
  8. adjective lacking tolerance or flexibility or breadth of view
    narrow-minded.
    • a brilliant but narrow-minded judge
    • narrow opinions
  9. adjective very limited in degree
    • won by a narrow margin
    • a narrow escape
  10. adjective satellite characterized by painstaking care and detailed examination
    minute.
    • a minute inspection of the grounds
    • a narrow scrutiny
    • an exact and minute report

WordNet

Nar"row adjective
Etymology
OE. narwe, naru, AS. nearu; akin to OS. naru, naro.
Wordforms
comparative Narrower ; superlative Narrowest
Definitions
  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 (eve) and &oomac; (f&oomac;d), etc., from ì (ìll) and &oocr; (f&oocr;t), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, § 13. ✍ 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.
Nar"row noun
Wordforms
plural Narrows
Definitions
  1. 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 transitive verb
Etymology
AS. nearwian.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Narrowed ; present participle & verbal noun Narrowing
Definitions
  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 intransitive verb
Definitions
  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 1913