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narrow(1)(dictionary)
narrow(dictionary)
Narrow(medicine)
narrow(2)(dictionary)
narrow boat(dictionary)
narrow 2, verb(dictionary)
narrow 1, adjective(dictionary)
narrow gauge(dictionary)
narrow-minded(dictionary)

Narrow (medicine)


narrow


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. "Hath passed in safety through the narrow seas." (Shak)

2. Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed. "The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world." (Bp. Wilkins)

3. Having but a little margin; having barely sufficient space, time, or number, etc.; close; near; with special reference to some peril or misfortune; as, a narrow shot; a narrow escape; a narrow majority.

4. Limited as to means; straitened; pinching; as, narrow circumstances.

5. Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted; as, a narrow mind; narrow views. "A narrow understanding."

6. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish. "A very narrow and stinted charity." (Smalridge)

7. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact. "But first with narrow search I must walk round This garden, and no corner leave unspied." (Milton)

8. 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 (eve) and oo (food), etc, from i (ill) and oo (foot), etc.

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. Narrow gauge.

See Note under Gauge.

Origin: OE. Narwe, naru, AS. Nearu; akin to OS. Naru, naro.

1. To lessen the breadth of; to contract; to draw into a smaller compass; to reduce the width or extent of.

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. "Our knowledge is much more narrowed if we confine ourselves to our own solitary reasonings." (I. Watts)

3. To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.

Origin: AS. Nearwian.

Source: Websters Dictionary