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

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 narrows

Daniel Gross narrows down the list of suspects, from Elizabeth Warren and Wall Street to the brilliant economist himself.
The Larry Summers Whodunit: Who Killed His Shot at Running the Fed?|Daniel Gross|September 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It narrows your options on how you will spend your time, money and attention.
Gay People Want Their Families to Be Treated Like Everyone Else|Justin Green|April 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
On the other hand, getting too close to the threshold dramatically raises your risk and narrows your choices.
Could US Debt Reach a Tipping Point?|Megan McArdle|February 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The headline screamed across the homepage of the Drudge Report: ROMNEY NARROWS VP CHOICES; CONDI EMERGES AS FRONTRUNNER.
How the Drudge Report, With Its Condoleezza Rice ‘Scoop,’ Again Rules the Media|Lauren Ashburn|July 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST

The next day three heavy battleships steamed sluggishly through the Narrows and came to anchor in the bay.
The Harbor|Ernest Poole
As we shot through the Iberian narrows on our frantic voyage hither, my entire store was blown out of my hands and away to sea.
Hypolympia|Edmund Gosse
Orillia, just within the narrows, appears to have been a site more suited to the needs or tastes of the public.
Toronto of Old|Henry Scadding
We waited till it was dark and then marched down the lake to the First Narrows, which we reached about two in the morning.
Ben Comee|M. J. (Michael Joseph) Canavan
There are many islands, especially in the so-called “Narrows,” thus greatly enhancing the scenic effect.
Geology|William J. Miller

British Dictionary definitions for narrows (1 of 2)

narrows

/ (ˈnærəʊz) /

pl n

a narrow part of a strait, river, current, etc

British Dictionary definitions for narrows (2 of 2)

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 narrows (1 of 4)

narrows

"narrow place in a river, etc.," 1630s, plural of narrow (n.).

Word Origin and History for narrows (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 narrows (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 narrows (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 narrows

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

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of narrow

Examples from the Web for narrows

British Dictionary definitions for narrows (1 of 2)

narrows

pl n

British Dictionary definitions for narrows (2 of 2)

narrow

adjective

verb

noun

Word Origin for narrow

Word Origin and History for narrows (1 of 4)

narrows

Word Origin and History for narrows (1 of 4)

narrow

Word Origin and History for narrows (2 of 4)

narrow

Word Origin and History for narrows (3 of 4)

narrow

Idioms and Phrases with narrows

narrow