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narrow
[ nar-oh ]
adjective
- 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.
Synonyms: , , ,
- with little margin to spare; barely adequate or successful; close:
a narrow escape.
- careful, thorough, or minute, as a scrutiny, search, or inquiry.
narrow resources.
- characterized by limited means; straitened; impoverished:
Since work was scarce, he soon found himself in 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 1( 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 down a contest to three competitors.
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 kilometers) long; 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) wide.
narrow
/ ˈæəʊ /
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; meagre
narrow resources
- barely adequate or successful (esp in the phrase a narrow escape )
- painstakingly thorough; minute
a narrow scrutiny
- finance denoting an assessment of liquidity as including notes and coin in circulation with the public, banks' till money, and banks' balances Compare broad
narrow money
- dialect.overcareful with money; parsimonious
- phonetics
- (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
Derived Forms
- ˈԲǷɲԱ, noun
- ˈԲǷɱ, adverb
Other Word Forms
- Բ·Ƿ· adverb
- Բ·Ƿ·Ա noun
- ··Բ·Ƿ adjective
- o·ver·Բ·Ƿ· adverb
- o·ver·Բ·Ƿ·Ա noun
- ܲ·Բ·Ƿ adjective
- un·Բ·Ƿ· adverb
- ܲ·Բ·Ƿed adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of narrow1
Word History and Origins
Origin of narrow1
Idioms and Phrases
In addition to the idiom beginning with narrow , see straight and narrow .Example Sentences
This narrow focus has led to significant disparities in diagnosing girls, children of color and those from low-income backgrounds.
The campaign to protest potential Medicaid cuts will focus on six House districts where use of the federally funded health system is high and where Republicans hold, at best, a narrow electoral advantage.
A government source said ministers were aiming to introduce a narrow AI bill limited to the regulation of cutting-edge AI models later this year.
"It's still a draconian abortion ban; still has really, really narrow exceptions. This doesn't broaden the exception in any meaningful way."
Upper lip shortening narrows the space between lip and nose, thought to signal youth.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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