| 释义 |
straiten, v.|ˈstreɪt(ə)n|
Forms: 6 streyghten, streyten, 6–7 streiten, 6–8 streighten, 6–9 straighten, 7 straicten, strayten, 7– straiten.
[f. strait a. + -en5.]
1. trans. To render strait or narrow; to narrow, contract (an opening, a passage, road, stream, etc.). Now somewhat rare.
1552Huloet, Streyghten or make narrow, angusto. 1603Stow Surv. 84 The number of..carts and coatches, more then hath beene accustomed, the streetes and lanes being streightned, must needes be daungerous. 1604E. G[rimstone] tr. Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xviii. 176 The river being there straightened, and forced betwixt two high steepe rockes: the water falles directly downe. 1628Coke On Litt. 3 An ancient grant..that a way leading to their common should not be streightened. 1660Boyle New Exper. Phys. Mech. xxiii. (1682) 92 Into the latter [the Philosophical egg] we put a..rod of solid glass to straiten the Cavity of the neck by almost filling it up. 1683Salmon Doron Med. i. 322 [This] straitens the Pores and Passages of the Body. 1695in Hertford Sessions Rolls (1905) I. 420 [Enclosing part of a highway] by which means the said highway is much straightened. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 43 Trees on the Sides, coming to..grow thicker, will in Time..streighten a Walk very considerably. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 51 The Funnel..shou'd have several divisions to cut the Wind. Some have indeed streighten'd this Passage. c1804Jane Austen Watsons in Leigh Mem. (1871) 321 In passing through the latter, where the passage was straitened by tables, Mrs. Edwards and her party were for a few moments hemmed in. 1822–7Good Study Med. (1829) III. 14 The throat is rough and straightened from the second day of the eruption. 1895Petrie Egypt. Tales Ser. i. 62 The tow-path..was straitened..: on the one side of it was the water, and on the other side of it grew his corn.
transf.1638Ford Fancies iv. i. 49 We shall flourish. Feed high henceforth, man, and no more be streightend Within the limits of an emptie patience.
†b. To close the ranks of (an army). Obs.
1590Sir J. Smythe Disc. Weapons 3 b, That a squadron of armed men..being readie to encounter with another squadron,.. ought to streighten and close themselues by frunt and flanckes. a1609Sir F. Vere Comm. (1657) 95 The water now grew very high, so as both we and they were forced to streighten our front.
†c. to straiten one's hand: to become niggardly. Obs.
1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. i. 251 My friends..had already cast mee off, streightning more and more their hand towards mee.
†d. Phrase, to straiten (a person's) quarters. (Cf. sense 4 b.) Obs.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. §237 The winning of Ciceter..which, being upon the edge of Wiltshire, Barkshire, and Oxfordshire, shrewdly straitened the King's quarters. 1741Middleton Cicero II. x. 395 Distressing him by straitening his quarters. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. (1787) III. 150 The Barbarian was gradually invested, on every side, by the troops of the West..; his quarters were straightened; his convoys were intercepted.
2. intr. To become narrow, to narrow.
1601Holland Pliny v. xxxii. I. 114 Being past this gulfe, the sea beginneth to streighten again, and the land to meet neere together. 1615G. Sandys Trav. ii. 117 This arme of the Nile is as broad at Rosetta as Thames about Tilbury, streightning by little and little. 1731T. Gordon Tacitus, Agricola II. 360 But a tract of territory huge and unmeasurable stretches forward to the uttermost shore, and straightning by degrees, terminates like a wedge. 1823J. Thacher Milit. Jrnl. Amer. Rev. 96 We behold Lake Champlain widening and straitening as banks and clifts project into its channel. 1853G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas II. 28 The valley..shortly after this began to straiten, till it came at last to so narrow a gorge..that [etc.].
†3. trans. To tighten (a knot, cord, bonds). Obs.
c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. xvi. 28 You have much streightned that knot of love which hath bin long tied between us. 1659Milton Civ. Power 58 As well may he loos'n that which God hath strait'nd, or strait'n that which God hath loos'nd, as [etc.]. 1741‘T. Betterton’ Hist. Engl. Stage v. 66 Shewing the Teeth, and straitening the Lips on them, shews Indignation and Anger. 1742Pope Dunc. iv. 29 Morality..Gasps, as they straiten at each end the cord.
†b. To render more strict or rigorous. Obs.
1751H. Walpole Let. to Mann 1 May, On this his confinement was straitened. 1753Richardson Grandison (1781) III. 46 Her Mother's wickedness giving occasion the more to streighten her education.
4. To confine in or force into a narrow space; to hem in closely. Also with in. Now rare.
1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent 79 Vortimer..so streightned the Saxons in this Ile.., that for a colour they sent Vortiger to treate with him of peace. 1605Drayton Poems Lyr. & Past., Man in Moone H 3, Wherin you might view A sea that somwhat straytned by the land, Two furious tydes raise their ambitious hand One gainst the other. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. 216 They seemed..to be like vnto straw, which..if you restraine and straiten it,..it will shoot it selfe out. 1626Bacon Sylva §115 Waters, when they beat vpon the Shore, or are straitned (as in the falls of Bridges;)..giue a Roaring Noise. 1637–38in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 119 Y⊇ wind could not there be straightned by Clare Hall, wch scarce reacheth to y⊇ fourth part of yt height. 1648Gage West Ind. 123 The chiefest mountains which straighten in this City and valley are two. 1652Nedham Selden's Mare Cl. 172 An In-land Sea, which in som places beeing streightned with Land on every side, exceed's not the breadth even of a River. 1667Milton P.L. i. 776 So thick the aerie crowd Swarm'd and were straitn'd. 1684Contempl. St. Man ii. vi. (1699) 196 The Bodies of the Damned..shall be so straitned and crowded together in that Infernal Dungeon. 1698Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 33 The Heavenly Plant is too much streightned and bound up to thrive, and cannot shoot forth its Branches very far. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xvi. 311 The small tribe of Dan, already straitened between the mountains and the sea.
b. said of a hostile army.
1603Knolles Hist. Turkes (1621) 944 Who..with all speed compassed in his enemies, and straightning them on both sides, tooke some of them alive,..and [etc.]. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 323 If this be our condition, thus to dwell In narrow circuit strait'nd by a Foe. 1849–50Alison Hist. Europe liv. §47. VIII. 509 Finding himself daily more closely straitened by the insurgents [he] was obliged to retire.
5. To narrow or restrict the freedom, power, or privileges of (a person). arch.
a1586Sidney Arcadia i. iv. (1912) 25 Their [sc. your daughters'] education by your fatherly care, hath beene hetherto such, as hath beene most fit to restraine all euill:..not greeuing them for want of wel-ruled libertie. Now to fall to a sodain straightning them, what can it doo but argue suspition? 1611Bible Micah ii. 7 Is the Spirit of the Lord straitned [marg. or, shortened]? 1619Sanderson Serm. Ad Clerum i. (1632) 24 The liberty of a Christian..is then infringed, when the Conscience is bound and streitned, by imposing vpon it an opinion of doctrinall Necessity. a1653Binning Sinner's Sanct. xiv. Wks. (1735) 233 Was it the Satisfaction of his Justice that straitned him, and put a Necessity of this upon him? 1701Sir D. Hume Diary Parl. Scot. (Bannatyne Club) 52 What was moved seemed to him to straiten the King... So this was let fall. 1858J. Martineau Stud. Christ. 108 Our spirit..is so straitened by the bands of sin..that there is no freedom.
†b. To deprive partially, abridge of (a possession or privilege). Obs.
1523Fitzherb. Surv. 8 b, And also the lordes haue enclosed a great parte of their waste groundes and streytened their tenauntes of their commyns therin. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 114 The peticioner to be called in and herde. Yf he fynde himselfe streightened of his proofes for not beinge herde, then to gyve him longer daye. 1647Howell Lett. (1650) III. xv. 27 The King is streightned of that liberty he formerly had in the Isle of Wight.
†c. To restrict from doing something. Obs.
1622Relat. Engl. Plant. Plymouth, New Eng. 65 Some who out of doubt in tendernesse of conscience,..are straitned and doe straiten others, from going to forraine plantations.
†d. To bind stringently. Obs.
1652Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples ii. 129 While thus in the Countrey there was a course taken to straiten the people to the Obedience of his Majesty, there was no time lost in Naples.
6. To narrow or restrict in range, scope, or amount.
1645E. Pagitt Heresiogr. (ed. 2) 46 Because else the grace of God to his people is now..lessened and straitned more then before. 1650Jer. Taylor Holy Living iv. §7 (1676) 237 Let not young beginners in Religion..straiten their liberty by vows of long continuance. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. ii. ix. (1712) 67 The reason why Birds are Oviparous..but do not bring forth their young alive, is..that neither the Birds of prey, the Serpent nor the Fowler, should streighten their generations too much. 1708Addison Pres. St. War 8 We may only add, that the same Causes which streighten the British Commerce, will naturally enlarge the French. 1709T. Robinson Vindic. Mosaick Syst. 79 The Divine Providence..so streightens their Increase, that they [Tigers] may not be too offensive and destructive, either of Man or Beast. 1778Hartley Swedenborg's Heaven & Hell (1851) Pref. p. xlviii, God forbid that we should go about to straiten that mercy towards others (though even devils), to which the very best of us stand indebted. 1781Cowper Retirem. 234 As woodbine weds the plant within her reach,..But does a mischief while she lends a grace, Strait'ning its growth by such a strict embrace. 1801S. Turner Hist. Anglo-Sax. iv. v. (1807) I. 276 A vigilant armed peasantry..secured the property of the country, and straitened the supplies of the invader. 1855Milman Lat. Christ. ix. ii. (1864) V. 212 They declared that they had no design to straiten the rights of the Holy See. 1863Kinglake Crimea I. 34 The conquest of the shores of the Bosphorus..would straiten the range of England's authority in the world. 1868Rogers Pol. Econ. xv. (1876) 211 It is supposed, and generally with reason,..that profits must fall, and so business must be straitened. 1871Morley Carlyle in Crit. Misc. Ser. i. (1878) 163 It is a question of temperament how violently either of them straitens and distorts the normal faculties of vision.
7. To reduce to straits; to subject to privation, hardship, or distress. Often said of besiegers, sometimes with mixture of sense 4 b.
1611Bible Jer. xix. 9 The siege and straitnesse, wherewith their enemies..shall straiten them. 1645in Verney Mem. (1904) I. 400 Chester is certainly very much straitened, and if not suddenly relieved doubtless will be lost. 1665Manley Grotius' Low-C. Wars 127 After he had encamped in all the Parts adjacent to Bruxels, endeavouring to straiten the City, by wasting and consuming all the Fruits of the Ground. 1759Hume Hist. Eng. Ho. Tudor, Edw. VI, ii. I. 323 De Thermes..took the fortress of Broughty, and..straitened the English at Haddington. 1778Phil. Surv. S. Irel. 324 With a threat to streighten them if they refused to comply. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. ii. xi. III. 101 The viceroy..endeavoured to straiten the garrison there by desolating the surrounding country. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset I. xxxii. 267, I am sore straitened, and brought down into the very dust by misfortune.
†b. In pass., to be at a loss, to be ‘hard put to it’. Obs.
1647May Hist. Parlt. iii. vi. 101 The Parliament..were much straightned how to proceed in the businesse, with the expedition which was required.
c. To inconvenience by insufficiency of something specified (as time, space, supplies of any kind). Const. for, † in, † of, † with. Now only in pass. (somewhat arch.).
1620Sanderson Serm. Ad Pop. ii. (1632) 291, I will not..straiten my selfe of time for the delivery of what I am now purposed to speake. 1634Sydenham Serm. (1637) 75 They are not..so straightned with time,..but they might sequester one solemne houre for the service of the Lord. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. i. xi. (1687) 29/1 These young Men, streightned in time, underwent the Yoke, and drew the Chariot of their Mother forty five Stadia. 1661Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 60 We are as much straitned in paper and time at present as we shall be always large in affection and service to you. 1663Gerbier Counsel 12 Staires ought to be so long, that the Attendants on each side..may not be streightned for roome. 1665Manley Grotius' Low-C. Wars 219 That by shutting up their Haven, he might straighten the Townsmen of Provision. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 218 But streighten'd in my Space, I must forsake This Task; for others afterwards to take. 1706Col. Rec. Pennsylv. II. 260 Finding themselves straitned in time,..requested [etc.]. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. to Hen. VII (1762) I. ix. 310 The garrison [of Verneuil], being straitened for provisions, were obliged to capitulate. 1817W. H. Havergal in Jane M. Crane Rec. Life (1882) 19 The arranging and planning it [his Sunday School] has straitened me much for time. 1853J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. Ser. ii. i. i. (1873) 6 If straitened for provisions, they [the Tartars] ate the chargers which carried them to battle.
d. To render short of money.
1699Bentley Phal. 457 The Romans being straitned in the First Punic War, lower'd their Brass Money Five parts in Six. 1712Addison Spect. No. 295 ⁋1 The Education of these my Children..streightens me so much, that [etc.]. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 508 My Nephew furnishing me with..a Letter of Credit..that I might not be straiten'd whatever might happen. 1796F. Burney Camilla IV. 320 It shall value him fifty pound a-year more to his income, if I straighten myself never so much. 1818Hallam Mid. Ages viii. iii. (1819) III. 91 The king, in short, was more straightened than ever. His distresses gave no small advantage to the commons. 1857Kingsley Two Y. Ago xxv, The old man thanked God for his good son, and only hoped that he was not straitening himself to buy luxuries for a useless old fellow. 1860Froude Hist. Eng. VI. 488 The works had fallen again into ruin; and Mary, straitened by debt,..and a supposed obligation to make good the losses of the clergy, had found neither means nor leisure to attend to them.
†8. To hamper, impede in action. Obs.
1607T. Ridley (title), A view of the civile and ecclesiastical law, and wherein the practise of them is streitned, and may be relieued within this land. 1662H. Newcome Diary (Chetham Soc.) 87, I preached but was a little streitned by a cold. 1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 53 So Inartificial is Art when she is pinched and streitned in her Workmanship. a1683Owen Holy Spirit (1693) 264 This a Man hath when he is not from any Internal Defect, or from any outward Consideration streightened in the Declaration of those things. 1726Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 234 But pray do not straiten yourself with any thing I cast in, and please dash down any thing that is proper for me to help.
Hence ˈstraitening vbl. n. and ppl. a.
† straitening circumstances (obs.) = straitened circumstances.
1598Stow Surv. 231 After that is Grubstreete, more then halfe thereof to the straightning of the streete. 1646H. P. Medit. Seige 130 When a fort or Garrison cannot be gotten neither by treatie, nor by streightning, the last attempt is commonly by storming. a1652J. Smith Sel. Disc. ix. 465 Separating them from those circumstantiating and straitening conditions of time and place. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 70 Nor obvious Hill, Nor streit'ning Vale,..nor Stream divides Thir perfet ranks. 1692Locke Consid. Lower. Interest 115 The Landed Man finds himself aggrieved, by the falling of his Rents, and the streightning of his Fortune. a1732T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 17 Providence..keeps them still in straitening circumstances. 1751in J. J. Vernon Parish of Hawick (1900) 189 In case..his Widow should be reduced to straitning circumstances. a1788Gilson Serm. xvii. 498 They ardently long to be removed to that state themselves, where the straitening ties of sense, or corporeal relation, shall cease to hamper or keep down the soul. 1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps i. §11. 21 The nice balance between the straitening of effort or enthusiasm on the one hand, and vainly casting it away upon the other. |