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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Narrow \Nar"row\ (n[a^]r"r[-o]), a. [Compar. {Narrower}
(n[a^]r"r[-o]*[~e]r); 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.
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Hath passed in safety through the narrow seas.
--Shak.
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2. Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.
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The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a
narrow compass in the world. --Bp. Wilkins.
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3. Having but a little margin; having barely sufficient
space, time, or number, etc.; close; near[5]; -- with
special reference to some peril or misfortune; as, a
narrow shot; a narrow escape; a narrow miss; a narrow
majority. --Dryden.
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4. Limited as to means; straitened; pinching; as, narrow
circumstances.
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5. Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted; as, a
narrow mind; narrow views. "A narrow understanding."
--Macaulay.
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6. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.
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A very narrow and stinted charity. --Smalridge.
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7. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.
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But first with narrow search I must walk round
This garden, and no corner leave unspied. --Milton.
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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 [=e] ([=e]ve) and [=oo]
(f[=oo]d), etc., from [i^] ([i^]ll) and [oo^] (f[oo^]t),
etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect]13.
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Note: 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.
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{Narrow gauge}. (Railroad) See Note under {Gauge}, n., 6.
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Narrow \Nar"row\, v. i.
1. To become less broad; to contract; to become narrower; as,
the sea narrows into a strait.
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2. (Man.) Not to step out enough to the one hand or the
other; as, a horse narrows. --Farrier's Dict.
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3. (Knitting) To contract the size of a stocking or other
knit article, by taking two stitches into one.
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Narrow \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.
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Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerous
narrow. --Gladstone.
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Narrow \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.
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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.
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Our knowledge is much more narrowed if we confine
ourselves to our own solitary reasonings. --I.
Watts.
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3. (Knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by
taking two stitches into one.
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