DEFINITION
adjective ( narrower, narrowest )1 of small width in relation to length: he made his way down the narrow road.2 limited in extent, amount, or scope: they ate a narrow range of foods.• (of a person's attitude or beliefs) limited in range and unwilling or unable to appreciate alternative views: companies fail through their narrow view of what contributes to profit.• precise or strict in meaning: the idea of nationalism in the narrowest sense of the word.• (of a phonetic transcription) showing fine details of accent.3 (especially of a victory, defeat, or escape) with only a small margin; barely achieved: 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.
verb1 become or make less wide: [ no obj. ] : the road narrowed and crossed an old bridge | [ with obj. ] : the Victoria Embankment was built to narrow the river.• almost close (one's eyes) so as to focus on something, or to indicate anger or other emotion: [ with obj. ]: she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously | [ no obj. ] : her eyes narrowed as she looked at him.2 become or make more limited in extent or scope: [ no obj. ] : the gap between the sexes is narrowing | the trade surplus narrowed to £70 m in January | [ with obj. ] : the committee narrowed the selection to three designers.
noun (narrows)a narrow channel connecting two larger areas of water: there was a car ferry across the narrows of Loch Long.
PHRASAL VERBSnarrow something down reduce the number of possibilities or options: the company has narrowed down thecandidates for the job to two.
DERIVATIVES
narrowish adjective,narrowness noun
ORIGIN Old English nearu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch naar ‘dismal, unpleasant’ and GermanNarbe ‘scar’. Early senses in English included ‘constricted’ and ‘mean’.
Written by NativeEnglish
Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.
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