Narrowness

[nar-oh] /ˈnær oʊ/

adjective, narrower, narrowest.
1.
of little breadth or width; not broad or wide; not as wide as usual or expected:
a narrow path.
2.
limited in extent or space; affording little room:
narrow quarters.
3.
limited in range or scope:
a narrow sampling of public opinion.
4.
lacking breadth of view or sympathy, as persons, the mind, or ideas:
a narrow man, knowing only his professional specialty; a narrow mind.
5.
with little margin to spare; barely adequate or successful; close:
a narrow escape.
6.
careful, thorough, or minute, as a scrutiny, search, or inquiry.
7.
limited in amount; small; meager:
narrow resources.
8.
straitened; impoverished:
narrow circumstances.
9.
New England. stingy or parsimonious.
10.
Phonetics.

11.
(of livestock feeds) proportionately rich in protein.
verb (used without object)
12.
to decrease in width or breadth:
This is where the road narrows.
verb (used with object)
13.
to make narrower.
14.
to limit or restrict (often followed by down):
to narrow an area of search; to narrow down a contest to three competitors.
15.
to make narrow-minded:
Living in that village has narrowed him.
noun
16.
a narrow part, place, or thing.
17.
a narrow part of a valley, passage, or road.
18.
narrows, (used with a singular or plural verb) a narrow part of a strait, river, ocean current, etc.
19.
The Narrows, a narrow strait from upper to lower New York Bay, between Staten Island and Long Island. 2 miles (3.2 km) long; 1 mile (1.6 km) wide.
/ˈnærəʊ/
adjective
1.
small in breadth, esp in comparison to length
2.
limited in range or extent
3.
limited in outlook; lacking breadth of vision
4.
limited in means or resources; meagre: narrow resources
5.
barely adequate or successful (esp in the phrase a narrow escape)
6.
painstakingly thorough; minute: a narrow scrutiny
7.
(finance) denoting an assessment of liquidity as including notes and coin in circulation with the public, banks’ till money, and banks’ balances: narrow money Compare broad (sense 14)
8.
(dialect) overcareful with money; parsimonious
9.
(phonetics)

10.
(of agricultural feeds) especially rich in protein
11.
(informal) narrow squeak, an escape only just managed
verb
12.
to make or become narrow; limit; restrict
noun
13.
a narrow place, esp a pass or strait
adj.

Old English nearu “narrow, constricted, limited; petty; causing difficulty, oppressive; strict, severe,” from West Germanic *narwaz “narrowness” (cf. Frisian nar, Old Saxon naru, Middle Dutch nare, Dutch naar); not found in other Germanic languages and of unknown origin. The narrow seas (c.1400) were the waters between Great Britain and the continent and Ireland. Related: Narrowness.
v.

Old English nearwian “to force in, cramp, confine; become smaller, shrink;” see narrow (adj.). Related: Narrowed; narrowing.
n.

c.1200, nearewe “narrow part, place, or thing,” from narrow (adj.). Old English nearu (n.) meant “danger, distress, difficulty,” also “prison, hiding place.”
In addition to the idiom beginning with narrow , see straight and narrow