narrow

[ nar-oh ]

/ ˈnær oʊ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR narrow ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, nar·row·er, nar·row·est.

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.

limited in amount; small; meager: narrow resources.

straitened; impoverished: 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 lax(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.

verb (used without object)

to decrease in width or breadth: This is where the road narrows.

verb (used with object)

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.

noun

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 km) long; 1 mile (1.6 km) wide.

Nearby words

narrative, narrative of the life of frederick douglass, narratively, narrativize, narrator, narrow, narrow boat, narrow construction, narrow escape, narrow gauge, narrow seas

Origin of narrow

before 900; Middle English; Old English nearu; cognate with Old Saxon naru narrow, Dutch naar unpleasant; akin to German Narbe scar, literally, narrow mark

SYNONYMS FOR narrow

4 biased, limited, shallow, small-minded.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR narrow ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

nar·row·ly, adverbnar·row·ness, nouno·ver·nar·row, adjectiveo·ver·nar·row·ly, adverb

o·ver·nar·row·ness, nounun·nar·row, adjectiveun·nar·row·ly, adverbun·nar·rowed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for narrowly

In 2012, Obama narrowly beat Mitt Romney among Florida Cubans, according to exit polls.
Rubio’s Embargo Anger Plays to the Past|Michael Tomasky|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
President Obama narrowly won the Cuban-American vote in South Florida in 2012.
The Liberation of the Lame Duck: Obama Goes Full Bulworth|John Avlon|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan is steadily but narrowly leading GOP challenger Thom Tillis.
Who Are the Judicial Activists Now?|Michael Tomasky|October 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He faces Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Patrice Douglas, who narrowly trailed Russell with 24.5 percent.
Would-Be Congressman Can’t Quit Saddam|Gideon Resnick|June 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

North Carolina has become one of the new swing states; Obama narrowly won it in 2008 but lost it by 2% in 2012.
GOP Establishment Wins in North Carolina Primary|Ben Jacobs|May 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But when he strove to cut across and so reach the mouth of the hidden swamp-stream, he narrowly escaped upsetting.
Ralestone Luck|Andre Norton
At Bermuda, where the ship put in for repairs, he narrowly escaped drowning.
Famous Authors (Men)|E. F. (Edward Francis) Harkins
Within, beside Reebeler himself, were a number of men, all of whom narrowly scrutinized the newcomer.
The Lighted Match|Charles Neville Buck
At that period Christianity took things literally and narrowly.
Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern|Edgar Saltus
It is possible to glance cursorily at both figures and mirror, and it is also possible to scrutinize them narrowly.
What To Do?|Count Lyof N. Tolstoi

British Dictionary definitions for narrowly

narrow

/ (ˈnærəʊ) /

adjective

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; meagrenarrow resources

barely adequate or successful (esp in the phrase a narrow escape)

painstakingly thorough; minutea narrow scrutiny

finance denoting an assessment of liquidity as including notes and coin in circulation with the public, banks' till money, and banks' balancesnarrow 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

verb

to make or become narrow; limit; restrict

noun

a narrow place, esp a pass or strait

Word Origin for narrow

Old English nearu; related to Old Saxon naru

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

Word Origin and History for narrowly (1 of 4)

narrowly

adv.

Old English nearolice "narrowly, closely, strictly;" see narrow (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "only by a little" is attested from 1550s.

Word Origin and History for narrowly (1 of 4)

narrow

adj.

Old English nearu "narrow, constricted, limited; petty; causing difficulty, oppressive; strict, severe," from West Germanic *narwaz "narrowness" (cf. Frisian nar, Old Saxon naru, Middle Dutch nare, Dutch naar); not found in other Germanic languages and of unknown origin. The narrow seas (c.1400) were the waters between Great Britain and the continent and Ireland. Related: Narrowness.

Word Origin and History for narrowly (2 of 4)

narrow

Old English nearwian "to force in, cramp, confine; become smaller, shrink;" see narrow (adj.). Related: Narrowed; narrowing.

Word Origin and History for narrowly (3 of 4)

narrow

c.1200, nearewe "narrow part, place, or thing," from narrow (adj.). Old English nearu (n.) meant "danger, distress, difficulty," also "prison, hiding place."

Idioms and Phrases with narrowly

narrow

In addition to the idiom beginning with narrow

narrow escape

, see

straight and narrow

narrow

adjective, nar·row·er, nar·row·est.

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

noun

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of narrow

Examples from the Web for narrowly

British Dictionary definitions for narrowly

narrow

adjective

verb

noun

Word Origin for narrow

Word Origin and History for narrowly (1 of 4)

narrowly

Word Origin and History for narrowly (1 of 4)

narrow

Word Origin and History for narrowly (2 of 4)

narrow

Word Origin and History for narrowly (3 of 4)

narrow

Idioms and Phrases with narrowly

narrow