narrow

Nar"row (?), a. [Compar. Narrower (?); superl. Narrowest.] [OE. narwe, naru, AS. nearu; akin to OS. naru, naro.]

1.

Of little breadth; not wide or broad; having little distance from side to side; as, a narrow board; a narrow street; a narrow hem.

Hath passed in safety through the narrow seas. Shak.

2.

Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.

The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world. Bp. Wilkins.

3.

Having but a little margin; having barely sufficient space, time, or number, etc.; close; near; -- with special reference to some peril or misfortune; as, a narrow shot; a narrow escape; a narrow majority.

Dryden.

4.

Limited as to means; straitened; pinching; as, narrow circumstances.

5.

Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted; as, a narrow mind; narrow views.

Macaulay.

6.

Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.

A very narrow and stinted charity. Smalridge.

7.

Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.

But first with narrow search I must walk round This garden, and no corner leave unspied. Milton.

8. Phon.

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 from wide; as �xc7; (�xc7;ve) and &oomac; (f&oomac;d), etc., from �xcc; (�xcc;ll) and &oocr; (f&oocr;t), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, § 13.

Narrow is not unfrequently prefixed to words, especially to participles and adjectives, forming compounds of obvious signification; as, narrow-bordered, narrow-brimmed, narrow-breasted, narrow-edged, narrow-faced, narrow-headed, narrow-leaved, narrow-pointed, narrow-souled, narrow-sphered, etc.

Narrow gauge. Railroad See Note under Gauge, n., 6.

© Webster 1913.

Nar"row (?), n.; pl. Narrows ().

A narrow passage; esp., a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water; -- usually in the plural; as, The Narrows of New York harbor.

Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerous narrow. Gladstone.

© Webster 1913.

Nar"row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Narrowed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Narrowing.] [AS. nearwian.]

1.

To lessen the breadth of; to contract; to draw into a smaller compass; to reduce the width or extent of.

Sir W. Temple.

2.

To contract the reach or sphere of; to make less liberal or more selfish; to limit; to confine; to restrict; as, to narrow one's views or knowledge; to narrow a question in discussion.

Our knowledge is much more narrowed if we confine ourselves to our own solitary reasonings. I. Watts.

3. Knitting

To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.

© Webster 1913.

Nar"row, v. i.

1.

To become less broad; to contract; to become narrower; as, the sea narrows into a strait.

2. Man.

Not to step out enough to the one hand or the other; as, a horse narrows.

Farrier's Dict.

3. Knitting

To contract the size of a stocking or other knit article, by taking two stitches into one.

© Webster 1913.