narrow

comparative narrower · superlative narrowest · alternative narrowe

1. Having a small width; not wide; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.

   a narrow hallway

   3 more examples

   She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.

   1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

   Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.

   2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 07 Sep 2013

2. Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.

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

   1675, John Wilkins, Of the Principles and Duties of Natural Religion

3. figurativelyRestrictive; without flexibility or latitude.

   a narrow interpretation

4. contractedContracted; of limited scope; bigoted.

   narrow views

   1 more example

   a narrow mind

5. Having a small margin or degree.

   a narrow escape

   4 more examples

   The Republicans won by a narrow majority.

   Although we lost the election by the narrowest of margins, the people of Oregon heard a great deal about education, and particularly about how "look-say" reading instruction was hardshipping Oregon school children.

   1970, Reading Reform Foundation, The Annual Reading Reform Foundation Conference, page 47

   […] it is unclear whether the beatings of potential political opponents are a governmentwide strategy or a narrower effort by Mr. Mugabe’s backers to shore up his remaining power.

   2007 March 29, Michael Wines, “Zimbabwean Leaders Accused of Abducting Opponents”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 22 Jun 2020

   As in their narrow defeat of Argentina last week, England were indisciplined at the breakdown, and if Georgian fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili had remembered his kicking boots, Johnson's side might have been behind at half-time.

   2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 27 Nov 2021

6. datedLimited as to means; straitened

   narrow circumstances

7. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.

   a very narrow […] and stinted charity

   a. 1719, George Smalridge, The Hopes of a Recompense from Men must not be our chief Aim in doing Good

8. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.

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

   1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

9. human sciencesFormed (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.
10. computingOf or supporting only those text characters that can fit into the traditional 8-bit representation.

    a narrow character; a narrow stream

    Antonyms: wide

plural narrows · alternative narrowe

1. in pluralA narrow passage, especially a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water.

   the narrows of New York harbor

   1 more example

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

   1858, William Gladstone, Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age

present singular third person narrows · participle present narrowing · participle past narrowed · past narrowed · alternative narrowe

1. transitiveTo reduce in width or extent; to contract.

   We need to narrow the search.

2. intransitiveTo get narrower.

   The road narrows.

3. To partially lower one's eyelids in a way usually taken to suggest a defensive, aggressive or penetrating look.

   He stepped in front of me, narrowing his eyes to slits.

   1 more example

   She wagged her finger in his face, and her eyes narrowed.

4. businessTo contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.
5. transitivecomputingTo convert to a data type that cannot hold as many distinct values.

   to narrow an int variable to a short variable

   Antonyms: widen