English▸ adjective
(narrower, narrowest)
1 (especially of something that is considerably longer or higher than it is wide) of small width:
he made his way down the narrow road.
2 limited in extent, amount, or scope; restricted:
his ability to get good results within narrow constraints of money and manpower.
▪ (of a person's attitude or beliefs) limited in range and lacking willingness or ability to appreciate alternative views:
companies fail through their narrow view of what contributes to profit.
▪ precise or strict in meaning:
some of the narrower definitions of democracy.
▪ (of a phonetic transcription) showing fine details of accent.
3 denoting or relating to a contest that is won or lost by only a very small margin:
the home team just hung on for a narrow victory.
4 Phonetics denoting a vowel pronounced with the root of the tongue drawn back so as to narrow the pharynx.
▸ verb
1 become or make less wide:
[no object] the road narrowed and crossed an old bridge
[with object] the embankment was built to narrow the river.
▪ almost close (one's eyes) so as to focus on something or someone, or to indicate anger, suspicion, or other emotion:
[with object] she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously
[no object] Jake's eyes had narrowed to pinpoints.
2 become or make more limited or restricted in extent or scope:
[no object] their trade surplus narrowed to $70 million in January
[with object] New England had narrowed Denver's lead from 13 points to 4.
▸ noun (narrows) a narrow channel connecting two larger areas of water:
a basaltic fang rising from the narrows of the Upper Missouri.
– ORIGIN Old English nearu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch naar ‘dismal, unpleasant’ and German Narbe ‘scar’. Early senses in English included ‘constricted’ and ‘mean’.