strait
Often straits. (used with a singular verb) a narrow passage of water connecting two large bodies of water.
Often straits. a position of difficulty, distress, or need: Ill and penniless, he was in sad straits indeed.
Archaic. a narrow passage or area.
an isthmus.
narrow: Strait is the gate.
affording little space; confined in area.
strict, as in requirements or principles.
Origin of strait
1synonym study For strait
Other words for strait
Opposites for strait
Other words from strait
- straitly, adverb
- straitness, noun
Words that may be confused with strait
- straight, strait
Words Nearby strait
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use strait in a sentence
The straightest of strait-laced operators – who see search as a powerful and useful customer touchpoint, are tarnished with the same brush as the sketchiest of spammers and scammers who are still alive and well within the industry.
The Panda anniversary and what we desperately must remember about search | Kevin Mullaney | February 24, 2021 | Search Engine WatchI don’t want to downplay the dire straits that our elementary school kids are facing, but I don’t think taking away resources from middle and high schools kids is the answer — at least not in the numbers they are asking.
Principals critical of D.C. school system’s plan to reopen elementary schools | Perry Stein | October 28, 2020 | Washington PostStill, with millions of Americans out of work and in increasingly desperate straits, some lawmakers are growing more vocal with their fears about the risks of not reaching an agreement quickly.
Pelosi walks tightrope in stimulus talks amid pressures of election, economy | Rachael Bade, Erica Werner | October 15, 2020 | Washington PostProspect officials never disclosed the plan’s dire straits during the state approval process.
Investors Extracted $400 Million From a Hospital Chain That Sometimes Couldn’t Pay for Medical Supplies or Gas for Ambulances | by Peter Elkind with Doris Burke | September 30, 2020 | ProPublicaWhatever the cause, the havoc this week leaves some teams, like the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos, in pretty dire straits.
About $10 billion was earmarked to build a bridge across the Kerch strait, with its unpredictable currents during spring floods.
All were led by William Barents, he of the famous strait, who sought to find a shorter trade route from Europe to China.
Pale Fire and the Cold War: Redefining Vladimir Nabokov’s Masterpiece | Michael Weiss | October 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd if the strait of Hormuz were to be blocked by Iran or any other country or entity, oil prices would skyrocket.
Both Candidates Push Myth of Energy Independence | Robert Bryce | November 1, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,” or so says Matthew 7.
If a conflict with Iran escalated beyond airstrikes to a naval struggle in the strait of Hormuz, more resources would be diverted.
GOP Candidates Are Wrong to Urge a Second Front War in Iran | Bruce Riedel | January 27, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe children of thy barrenness shall still say in thy ears: The place is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousDeparture on the fourth voyage, accompanied by a merchant-ship bound through Torres strait.
Directions for the passage within the reefs through Torres strait.
And the brave explorer sailed safely through the dangerous strait now named for him.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton WadeOn the south-side of Clarence strait the land is low, like the coast to the eastward.
British Dictionary definitions for strait
/ (streɪt) /
(often plural)
a narrow channel of the sea linking two larger areas of sea
(capital as part of a name): the Strait of Gibraltar
(often plural) a position of acute difficulty (often in the phrase in dire or desperate straits)
archaic a narrow place or passage
(of spaces, etc) affording little room
(of circumstances, etc) limiting or difficult
severe, strict, or scrupulous
Origin of strait
1Derived forms of strait
- straitly, adverb
- straitness, 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
Scientific definitions for strait
[ strāt ]
A narrow waterway joining two larger bodies of water. The Strait of Gibraltar, for example, connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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