narrow
of little breadth or width; not broad or wide; not as wide as usual or expected: a narrow path.
limited in extent or space; affording little room: narrow quarters.
limited in range or scope: a narrow sampling of public opinion.
lacking breadth of view or sympathy, as persons, the mind, or ideas: a narrow man, knowing only his professional specialty;a narrow mind.
with little margin to spare; barely adequate or successful; close: a narrow escape.
careful, thorough, or minute, as a scrutiny, search, or inquiry.
characterized by limited means; straitened; impoverished: Since work was scarce, he soon found himself in narrow circumstances.
New England. stingy or parsimonious.
Phonetics.
(of a vowel) articulated with the tongue laterally constricted, as the ee of beet, the oo of boot, etc.; tense.: Compare lax1 (def. 7).
(of a phonetic transcription) utilizing a unique symbol for each phoneme and whatever supplementary diacritics are needed to indicate its subphonemic varieties.: Compare broad (def. 14).
(of livestock feeds) proportionately rich in protein.
to decrease in width or breadth: This is where the road narrows.
to make narrower.
to limit or restrict (often followed by down): to narrow an area of search;to narrow down a contest to three competitors.
to make narrow-minded: Living in that village has narrowed him.
a narrow part, place, or thing.
a narrow part of a valley, passage, or road.
narrows, (used with a singular or plural verb) a narrow part of a strait, river, ocean current, etc.
the Narrows, a narrow strait from upper to lower New York Bay, between Staten Island and Long Island. 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) long; 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) wide.
Origin of narrow
1Other words for narrow
Other words from narrow
- nar·row·ly, adverb
- nar·row·ness, noun
- o·ver·nar·row, adjective
- o·ver·nar·row·ly, adverb
- o·ver·nar·row·ness, noun
- un·nar·row, adjective
- un·nar·row·ly, adverb
- un·nar·rowed, adjective
Words Nearby narrow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use narrow in a sentence
What it endangers is a narrow conception of Russian power, understood through the eyes of its dictatorial leader.
By that time, SantaCon had already spread beyond the narrow confines of a few prankster-explorers.
Before the Bros, SantaCon Was as an Anti-Corporate Protest | David Freedlander | December 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTA cruiser shows up and eyes narrow and citizens often withdraw.
The Wildly Peaceful, Human, Almost Boring, Ultimately Great New York City Protests for Eric Garner | Mike Barnicle | December 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd besides, the studies that do enjoy widespread media circulation focus on a very narrow segment of the LGBT community: gay men.
He has sunken eyes and a narrow black beard speckled with gray.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley | Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman | November 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The streets here are rather wide for an Italian city but would be deemed intolerably narrow in America.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyHe is rather tall and narrow, and wears a long abb's coat reaching nearly down to his feet.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayAs he was toiling slowly up a narrow, rocky pass, he suddenly saw an Indian's head peering over the ledge.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonHer thin and narrow hands held the balcony railing rather tightly.
Bella Donna | Robert HichensWhen we got to the house we entered an obscure corridor and began to find our way up a dark and narrow staircase.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy Fay
British Dictionary definitions for narrow
/ (ˈnærəʊ) /
small in breadth, esp in comparison to length
limited in range or extent
limited in outlook; lacking breadth of vision
limited in means or resources; meagre: narrow resources
barely adequate or successful (esp in the phrase a narrow escape)
painstakingly thorough; minute: a narrow scrutiny
finance denoting an assessment of liquidity as including notes and coin in circulation with the public, banks' till money, and banks' balances: narrow money Compare broad (def. 14)
dialect overcareful with money; parsimonious
phonetics
another word for tense 1 (def. 4)
relating to or denoting a transcription used to represent phonetic rather than phonemic distinctions
another word for close 1 (def. 21)
(of agricultural feeds) especially rich in protein
narrow squeak informal an escape only just managed
to make or become narrow; limit; restrict
a narrow place, esp a pass or strait
Origin of narrow
1- See also narrows
Derived forms of narrow
- narrowly, adverb
- narrowness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with narrow
In addition to the idiom beginning with narrow
- narrow escape
, see
- straight and narrow
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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