Category:Narrow

Nar"row, a. [compar. Narrower; superl. Narrowest.] Etym: [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.)

Defn: 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 Oo (food), etc., from ì (ìll) and oo (foot), etc. See guide to Pronunciation, § 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.

Narrow Nar"row, n.; pl. Narrows (.

Defn: 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.

Narrow Nar"row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Narrowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Narrowing.] Etym: [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)

Defn: to contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches Into one.

Narrow Nar"row, v. i.

1. To become less broad; to contract; to become narrower; as, the sea Narrows into a strait.

2. (man.)

Defn: not to step out enough to the one hand or the other; as, a Horse narrows. Farrier's dict.

3. (knitting)

Defn: to contract the size of a stocking or other knit article, by Taking two stitches into one.