narrowlyEnglishOxford New American Dictionarynarrowly /ˈnerōlē, ˈnɛroʊli / ▸ adverb 1 by only a small margin; barely: he narrowly defeated Anderson to win a 12th term in office. 2 closely or carefully: he was looking at her narrowly. 3 in a limited or restricted way: narrowly defined tasks.