# narrow

Pronunciation: say "NA-roh" US /ˈnæɹoʊ/, UK /ˈnæɹəʊ/

## Adjective

1. Having only a small distance between opposite sides, especially compared with length or depth.
   - Simple: Small from one side to the other, not wide.
   - _The river flows through a narrow gorge between steep cliffs._
   - _Medieval towns often had narrow streets winding between tall buildings._
2. Small in extent; very limited in range or scope.
   - Simple: Covering only a small area or range, very limited.
   - _The committee's narrow remit covered only budget questions._
   - _His narrow band of expertise made him hard to reassign._
3. Involving only a small margin or degree of difference.
   - Simple: Won or lost by only a small amount.
   - _The bill passed by a narrow majority of three votes._
   - _He held a narrow lead going into the last lap._
4. Restrictive; allowing little flexibility or room for choice.
   - Simple: Strict and not allowing changes or freedom.
   - _The judge favored a narrow reading of the statute._
   - _The narrow guidelines gave staff almost no discretion._
9. Examining something closely and in detail; precise and exact.
   - Simple: Looking at something very closely and carefully.
   - _Her narrow examination of the accounts uncovered every discrepancy._
   - _The inspector's narrow scrutiny of the contract missed nothing._
10. Form of limited scope.
   - Simple: Form of limited scope. Used to describe a closed-minded person who rejects new or different ideas.
   - _His narrow prejudices colored every judgment he made._
   - _The narrow bigotry of that era shocks readers today._
11. Stingy with money; ungenerous, grasping, and selfish.
   - Simple: Not willing to spend or share money with others.
   - _The narrow old miser counted every coin twice._
   - _He was too narrow to share his wealth with anyone._
13. In computing, limited to or relating to character sets small enough to fit within the traditional 8-bit encoding.
   - Simple: Working only with the basic set of 8-bit text characters.
   - _Legacy systems frequently handle only narrow character types, limiting them to 8-bit encodings._
   - _Converting the file to a narrow format dropped every non-ASCII symbol._
16. Of a vowel, formed by holding part of the tongue close to the palate, or by a tense pharynx; contrasted with wide.
   - Simple: Describing a vowel made with the tongue held close to the roof of the mouth.
   - _The transcription marked each narrow vowel with a special symbol._
   - _In her analysis, the narrow vowels patterned together against the wide ones._

## Verb

5. To reduce something in width or extent; to contract it.
   - Simple: To make something less wide or smaller.
   - _The city narrowed the lane to slow down traffic._
   - _Editors must narrow the topic before they start writing._
6. To become narrower.
   - Simple: To become less wide.
   - _The valley narrows sharply near the falls._
   - _Mountain passes narrow where the cliffs close in._
7. To partly lower the eyelids, usually suggesting a defensive, aggressive, or searching look.
   - Simple: To lower your eyelids a little, often to show anger or doubt.
   - _He narrowed his eyes, studying the stranger's face._
   - _Suspicious guards narrow their eyes at anyone who lingers._
14. In programming, to convert a value to a data type able to represent fewer distinct values.
   - Simple: To change data into a type that holds fewer values.
   - _The compiler narrows the long integer to a short one._
   - _Always check the range before you narrow a variable._
15. In knitting, to reduce the size of a piece, such as a stocking, by working two stitches together into one.
   - Simple: In knitting, to make a piece smaller by joining two stitches into one.
   - _Knitters narrow the toe by working stitches together in pairs._
   - _She narrowed the sleeve gradually toward the wrist._

## Noun

8. A constricted passage of water, especially the contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea joining two larger bodies.
   - Simple: A thin part of a river, lake, or sea between wider areas.
   - _Strong currents race through the narrows between the two islands._
   - _Fishermen know every rock in the narrows near the harbor._

## Adjective

12. Having limited financial means; financially straitened. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Having very little money to live on.
   - _The widow was left in narrow circumstances after the war._
   - _Narrow means forced them to sell the family home._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 8–13, 16** — From Middle English 'narow', from Old English 'nearu' (narrow, confined, restricted, oppressive), from Proto-West Germanic '*naru' and Proto-Germanic '*narwaz' (constricted, narrow), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to turn, bend, twist, or constrict. It is related to Dutch 'naar' (dismal, ill) and German 'Nehrung' (a narrow peninsula).
**Meanings 5–7, 14–15** — From Middle English 'narwen' (to narrow), ultimately derived from the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/narrow (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).