strait

American  

[streyt] / streɪt /

noun

1. (used with a singular verb) Often straits. a narrow passage of water connecting two large bodies of water.

2. Often straits. a position of difficulty, distress, or need.

   Ill and penniless, he was in sad straits indeed.

   Synonyms:

   plight, predicament, dilemma, pinch, exigency

   Antonyms:

   ease

3. Archaic. a narrow passage or area.

4. an isthmus.

---

adjective

Archaic.

1. narrow.

   Strait is the gate.

2. affording little space; confined in area.

3. strict, as in requirements or principles.

strait British  

/ streɪt /

noun

1. (often plural)

   1. a narrow channel of the sea linking two larger areas of sea

   2. ( capital as part of a name )

      the Strait of Gibraltar

2. (often plural) a position of acute difficulty (often in the phrase in dire or desperate straits )

3. archaic a narrow place or passage

---

adjective

1. (of spaces, etc) affording little room

2. (of circumstances, etc) limiting or difficult

3. severe, strict, or scrupulous

strait Scientific  

/ strāt /

1. A narrow waterway joining two larger bodies of water. The Strait of Gibraltar, for example, connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean.

---

Related Words

See emergency.

Other Word Forms

• straitly adverb
• straitness noun

Etymology

Origin of strait

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English streit “narrow, a strait,” from Old French estreit “narrow, tight,” from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere “to tighten, bind”; strain ¹

Example Sentences

Operations at the port have been on and off for days, raising concern about the vulnerability of alternative oil routes that bypass the strait.

From The Wall Street Journal

The strait’s closure has triggered higher gasoline, diesel and oil prices.

From The Wall Street Journal

Before the war, about 138 ships passed through the strait each day according to the Joint Maritime Information Centre, carrying one fifth of the global oil supply.

From BBC

Iran also continued to hit ships in the Gulf, extending a string of attacks that have all but shut the strait, the narrow conduit for 20% of the world’s oil shipments.

From The Wall Street Journal

If the danger can be reduced, the U.S. could send U.S. warships through the strait and eventually escort vessels in and out of the Persian Gulf.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• predicament