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narrow

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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FromMiddle Englishnarow,narowe,narewe,narwe,naru, fromOld Englishnearu(“narrow, strait, confined, constricted, not spacious, limited, petty; limited, poor, restricted; oppressive, causing anxiety (of that which restricts free action of body or mind), causing or accompanied by difficulty, hardship, oppressive; oppressed, not having free action; strict, severe”), fromProto-West Germanic*naru, fromProto-Germanic*narwaz(“constricted, narrow”), fromProto-Indo-European*(s)ner-(“to turn, bend, twist, constrict”).

Cognate withScotsnaro,narow,narrow(“narrow”),North Frisiannaar,noar,noor(“narrow”),Saterland Frisiannoar(“bleak, dismal, meager, ghastly, unwell”),Saterland FrisianNaarwe(“scar”),West Frisiannear(“narrow”),Dutchnaar(“dismal, bleak, ill, sick”),Low Germannaar(“dismal, ghastly”),GermanNehrung(“spit, narrow peninsula”),Norwegiannorve(“a clip, staple”),Icelandicnjörva-(“narrow-”,in compounds).

Adjective

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narrow (comparativenarrower,superlativenarrowest)

  1. Having asmall width; notwide; having opposite edges or sides that areclose, especially by comparison tolength ordepth.
    anarrow hallway
    • 1921,Ben Travers, chapter 1, inA Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.:Doubleday, Page & Company, published1925,→OCLC:
      She was like a BeardsleySalome, he had said. And indeed she had thenarrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.
    • 1963,Margery Allingham, chapter 14, inThe China Governess: A Mystery, London:Chatto & Windus,→OCLC:
      Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, anarrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.
    • 2013 July-August,Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, inAmerican Scientist:
      Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce anarrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.
  2. Of little extent; very limited;circumscribed.
    • 1675,John Wilkins,Of the Principles and Duties of Natural Religion:
      The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to anarrow compass in the world.
  3. (figuratively)Restrictive; withoutflexibility orlatitude.
    anarrow interpretation
  4. Contracted; of limited scope;bigoted
    anarrow mind
    narrow views
  5. Having a smallmargin or degree.
    anarrow escape
    The Republicans won by anarrow majority.
    • 1970, Reading Reform Foundation,The Annual Reading Reform Foundation Conference, page47:
      Although we lost the election by thenarrowest of margins, the people of Oregon heard a great deal about education, and particularly about how "look-say" reading instruction was hardshipping Oregon school children.
    • 2007 March 29, Michael Wines, “Zimbabwean Leaders Accused of Abducting Opponents”, inNew York Times‎[1]:
      […] it is unclear whether the beatings of potential political opponents are a governmentwide strategy or anarrower effort by Mr. Mugabe’s backers to shore up his remaining power.
    • 2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, inBBC Sport‎[2]:
      As in theirnarrow defeat of Argentina last week, England were indisciplined at the breakdown, and if Georgian fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili had remembered his kicking boots, Johnson's side might have been behind at half-time.
  6. (dated) Limited as to means;straitened
    narrow circumstances
  7. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.
    • a.1719,George Smalridge,The Hopes of a Recompense from Men must not be our chief Aim in doing Good:
      a verynarrow[…] and stinted charity
  8. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.
    • 1667,John Milton, “Book IX”, inParadise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […];[a]nd by Robert Boulter […];[a]nd Matthias Walker, […],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […],1873,→OCLC:
      But first withnarrow search I must walk round / This garden, and no corner leave unspied.
  9. (phonetics) Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; distinguished fromwide.
  10. (computing) Of or supporting only thosetextcharacters that can fit into the traditional8-bitrepresentation.
    Antonym:wide
    anarrow character; anarrow stream
Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Related terms
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Translations
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having small width
of little extent; very limited; circumscribed
restrictive; without flexibility or latitude
contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted.
having a small margin or degree
limited as to means; straitened; pinching
parsimonious; niggardly
scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact
phonetics: formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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narrow (pluralnarrows)

  1. (chiefly in theplural) A narrow passage, especially a contracted part of astream,lake, orsea; astrait connecting two bodies of water.
    thenarrows of New York harbor
    • 1858,William Gladstone,Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age:
      Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerousnarrow.

Etymology 2

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FromMiddle Englishnarwen(“to narrow”); see there for more details, but ultimately derived from the noun.

Verb

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narrow (third-person singular simple presentnarrows,present participlenarrowing,simple past and past participlenarrowed)

  1. (transitive) Toreduce inwidth orextent; tocontract.
    We need tonarrow the search.
  2. (intransitive) To get narrower.
    The roadnarrows.
  3. (of a person or eyes) To partially lower one's eyelids in a way usually taken to suggest a defensive, aggressive or penetrating look.
    He stepped in front of me,narrowinghis eyes to slits.
    She wagged her finger in his face, and her eyesnarrowed.
  4. (knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.
  5. (transitive, programming) To convert to adata type that cannot hold as many distinct values.
    Antonym:widen
    tonarrow anint variable to ashort variable
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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to reduce in width or extent
to get narrower
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