narrow
- 01 A2 Elementary
adj.having a small distance from one side to the other; not wide.
adj.having a small width in proportion to length; characterized by a limited distance between lateral boundaries.
Simple“The car struggled to drive through the narrow streets of the old village.”
In context“The hikers followed a narrow mountain path that wound precariously along the edge of the cliff, barely wide enough for a single person to pass.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
adj.limited in range, variety, or interest.
adj.restricted in scope, variety, or outlook; lacking breadth of perspective.
Simple“The shop has a very narrow selection of shoes to choose from.”
In context“The researcher was criticized for taking a narrow view of the problem, failing to account for the broader social implications of the data.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.achieved by a very small amount or margin.
adj.barely successful or sufficient; characterized by a minimal margin of difference.
Simple“The politician won the election by a narrow margin of only fifty votes.”
In context“The team escaped with a narrow victory after a last-minute goal saved them from an embarrassing draw against the underdogs.”
- 04 B1 Intermediate
v.to become less wide or to make the number of possibilities smaller.
v.to reduce the width or extent of something; to decrease the range of options or candidates.
Simple“We need to narrow down the list of hotels before we book one.”
In context“The police have managed to narrow their search to a three-block radius based on the witness statements collected this morning.”
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to partly close your eyes to look more closely or show anger.
v.to partially close the eyelids, typically to improve focus or to convey suspicion, aggression, or scrutiny.
Simple“His eyes narrowed as he tried to read the small print on the sign.”
In context“The detective's eyes narrowed in suspicion when the suspect's alibi failed to match the forensic evidence found at the scene.”
Synonyms - 06 C1 Advanced
v.to change a piece of computer data into a smaller type that holds less information.
v.to convert a data value to a type with a smaller range or lower precision, potentially resulting in data loss.
Simple“You have to be careful when you narrow a long number into a smaller integer.”
In context“The compiler issued a warning because narrowing the floating-point value to an integer would lead to a loss of precision.”
UsageThe verb is transitive and usually refers to primitive types like integers or floats.
- 07 C1 Advanced
n.a thin part of a river or a small channel of water between two larger areas.
n.a narrow part of a body of water, such as a strait or a restricted section of a river.
Simple“The ship sailed carefully through the narrows to reach the open sea.”
In context“The fleet was forced to anchor outside the narrows, as the tide was too low for the heavy warships to pass safely into the inner harbour.”
UsageOften used in the plural form 'the narrows'.
From Middle English narow, narowe, narewe, narwe, naru, from Old English nearu (“narrow, strait, confined, constricted, not spacious, limited, petty; limited, poor, restricted; oppressive, causing anxiety (of that which restricts free action of body or mind), causing or accompanied by difficulty, hardship, oppressive; oppressed, not having free action; strict, severe”), from Proto-West Germanic naru, from Proto-Germanic narwaz (“constricted, narrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ner- (“to turn, bend, twist, constrict”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian naar, noar, noor, nåår (“narrow”), Saterland Frisian noar (“narrow”), Dutch naar (“nasty, scary; sickening, unpleasant”), Danish and Swedish nor (“narrow strait”); also Sanskrit नृत् (nṛt, “to dance; act on stage, represent”).
From Middle English narwen (“to narrow”); see there for more details, but ultimately derived from the noun.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.