narrow

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hath passed in safety through the narrow seas. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world. Bp. Wilkins. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Limited as to means; straitened; pinching; as, narrow circumstances. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted; as, a narrow mind; narrow views. “A narrow understanding.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

A very narrow and stinted charity. Smalridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact. [ 1913 Webster ]

But first with narrow search I must walk round
This garden, and no corner leave unspied. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ē (ēve) and &oomacr_; (f&oomacr_;d), etc., from &ibreve_; (&ibreve_;ll) and &oobreve_; (f&oobreve_;t), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, §13. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Narrow gauge. (Railroad) See Note under Gauge, n., 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our knowledge is much more narrowed if we confine ourselves to our own solitary reasonings. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To become less broad; to contract; to become narrower; as, the sea narrows into a strait. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Man.) Not to step out enough to the one hand or the other; as, a horse narrows. Farrier's Dict. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Knitting) To contract the size of a stocking or other knit article, by taking two stitches into one. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerous
narrow. Gladstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. reduced in size as if by being squeezed.
Syn. -- constricted. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who, or that which, narrows or contracts. Hannah More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of contracting, or of making or becoming less in breadth or extent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The part of a stocking which is narrowed. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ AS. nearulice. ] 1. With little breadth; in a narrow manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Without much extent; contractedly. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. With minute scrutiny; closely; as, to look or watch narrowly; to search narrowly. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. With a little margin or space; by a small distance; hence, closely; hardly; barely; only just; -- often with reference to an avoided danger or misfortune; as, he narrowly escaped. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Sparingly; parsimoniously. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. With close adherence to the literal meaning of a text; as, to interpret narrowly; to construe narrowly; to read narrowly; -- used especially of laws and contracts. [ PJC ]

a. Of narrow mental scope; lacking tolerance or breadth of view; illiberal; mean. Opposite of broad-minded, open-minded, liberal. [ wns=2 ] [ Narrower terms: dogmatic, dogmatical; little, petty, small, small-minded ]
Syn. -- narrowminded, narrow, illiberal, intolerant. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Capable of being shocked by behavior of others. Opposite of unshockable. [ wns=1 ]
Syn. -- shockable. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

-- Nar"row-mind`ed*ness, n. [1913 Webster]