| 释义 |
▪ I. narrow, a. and n.|ˈnærəʊ|
Forms: 1 nearu, -o, -uo, naru(u), neruu, 2 nareu, 3–4 naru, (3 narv), 4 narw, narou; 3 neruh, 4 narouȝ, nargh, 5 narevh, narwh, narough; 4–6 narow(e, narrowe, 6 Sc. narraw, 4– narrow. Inflected. 1 nearwe, naarwe, 3 narrwe, 3–4 narwe, 4 narȝwe; 1 nearewe, -uwe, 1, 3 nearowe, 2 nærewe, 2–3 narewe, 3 nerewe, -uwe.
[OE. nearu, nearo (also neara: see nare a.) = OS. naru narrow, MDu. nare, naer (Du. naar) unpleasant, dismal, sad, distressed, etc., Fris. nâr narrow. Not found in the other Teutonic languages, and of doubtful etymology.]
A. adj.
1. a. Having little breadth or width in comparison with the length; wanting in breadth; constricted.
Beowulf 1409 Ofereode þa æþelinga bearn..stiᵹe nearwe, enge anpaðas. c893K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §32 Se sæ þe æᵹðer is ᵹe nearo ᵹe hreoh. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xvi. 5 Mið ðy ᵹecwomun ðeᵹnas his ofer luh vel nearo sæ. 1154O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137 Sume hi diden..in an cæste þat was scort & nareu & undep. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 199 [The adder] cumeð to ane þurlede ston, and criepeð nedlinge þureh nerewe hole. a1225Ancr. R. 430 He..went þe neruwe ende of þe horne to his owune muðe, & utward þene wide. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 212/424 Þis brugge..was so narovȝ þat onneþe ani-þing miȝte þare-oppe sette ani fot. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 819 Þe lefte eghe..semes les, And narower þan þe right eghe es. 1390Gower Conf. I. 98 Ther was no grace in the visage, Hir front was nargh, hir lockes hore. c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 45 Egypt is a long Contree; but it is streyt, that is to seye narow. 1463Bury Wills (Camden) 23 A long narevh table. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 145 Her sekynge in y⊇ narowe lanes betokeneth [etc.]. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 88 Oh here's a wit..that stretches from an ynch narrow, to an ell broad. 1632Lithgow Trav. i. 22 Italy..growing narrower, and narrower, till it shut out it selfe in two hornes. 1696Bp. Patrick Comm. Exod. xxxix. (1697) 710 Then they cut off lesser, and narrower Wires. 1723Chambers tr. Le Clerc's Treat. Archit. I. 91 Make the lower Arch..narrower than usual. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 70 The streets are for the most part narrow and winding. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 292 The narrower the base..the more easily may the body be overthrown. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. ix. (1878) 140 Up a straight, steep, narrow stair.
b. In fig. contexts, esp. narrow way, etc. (in ref. to Matt. vii. 14).
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt., Contents 17/14 Ðerh brad woeᵹ moniᵹe, ðerh neruu vel unrum hwon..inngae ᵹetrymes. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. vii. 14 Gangað inn þurh þæt nearwe ᵹeat. c1200Ormin 6208 Þa follȝhe ȝitt tatt narrwe stih Þatt ledeþþ ȝunnc till heoffne. 12..Moral Ode 339 (Egerton MS.), Laete we þe brode strete..Go we þene narewe wei. a1340Hampole Psalter cxviii. 35 Þis strete is þe narw way till heuen. 1382Wyclif Matt. vii. 14 How streit is the ȝate, and narowe the weye, that ledith to lijf. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 18 In the strayte and narowe poynt of deth they descende to hell. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. (1895) 10 An other is so narrow in [1556 betwene] the sholders, that he can beare no iestes nor tawntes. 1597J. King On Jonas (1618) 142 There is but a narrow path betwixt fire and water, as Esdras speaketh. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 154 Honour trauels in a straight so narrow, Where one but goes a breast. 1682Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. i. §1 Tread softly and circumspectly in this..narrow Path of Goodness. 1742Pope Dunc. iv. 152 When Reason doubtful..Points him two ways, the narrower is the better. 1780Cowper Progr. Err. 118 Himself a wanderer from the narrow way.
c. In special applications, as narrow axe U.S., an axe used primarily for chopping, opp. broad-axe; narrowback U.S, a citizen of the United States of Irish ancestry (see also quot. 1941); narrow band Electr., a band (band n.2 14) of frequencies lying within a narrow range; freq. attrib. (with hyphen); narrow boat, a canal boat, spec. one not exceeding 7 feet in width or 72 feet in length; narrow cloth, cloth under 52 inches wide; narrow-cut adj., applied to filters which transmit only a narrow band of wavelengths; narrow front (see quot. 1802); narrow goods, braid, ribbons, and similar woven articles; † narrow land, one of the narrow strips into which open fields were divided; narrow money (Econ.), a measure of the amount of money available in an economic system, according to a narrow definition of money (e.g. M0 or M1: see M III. 9): contr. with broad money s.v. broad a. D. 2; narrow-range attrib., restricted in incidence or scope; narrow trade, the trade in narrow goods; narrow wares, narrow goods; narrow weaver, a weaver of narrow cloth or goods; narrow work (see quot. 1851). See also narrow gauge, seas.
1641Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1850) I. 444 A broad axe, 2 *narrow axes, wimbell & chessells. 1854Thoreau Walden 46, I went on for some days cutting and hewing timber..with my narrow axe.
1941J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 39 *Narrow back, dishwasher; cashier. 1957N.Y. Times 29 Sept. X3 William Joseph Patrick (Pat) O'Brien, a Milwaukee-born Irishman or narrowback. 1966Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1964 xlii. 39 Irish informants use..narrowback for a second generation Irishman who has neither the need, the desire nor the physical equipment to do the work his father had to do. 1975G. V. Higgins City on Hill ii. 56 You went out and married the same kind of commoner he always was himself, and a narrowback to boot.
1956Nature 28 Jan. 178/2 A *narrow-band tuned amplifier on 16 kc./s. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 261 Music line, broad-band circuit for carrying programme (including speech), as distinct from a telephone line which may occupy only a narrow band. 1971M. S. Ghausi Electronic Circuits vii. 437 When extremely high Q and excellent stability are required in narrow-band bandpass filters, the use of crystal filters is practical.
1951Oxf. Jun. Encycl. IV. 37/2 The *narrow boat, or ‘monkey boat’.., is possibly the commonest craft on inland waterways in England...because the locks on the group of canals in the Midland counties..can only pass a boat about 7 feet wide and 70 feet long. 1972Country Life 13 Jan. 93/1 Only the deep draught of narrow boats can keep the canals open in the absence of proper dredging. 1975Times 8 Mar. 10/6 Some of the older narrow boats with a three-foot draught are constantly ploughing through mud, for the canals are silted up.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. §183 The Wealthy Manufacture there of Kerseys, and *narrow Cloaths. 1727De Foe Eng. Tradesman xxvi. (1841) I. 258 The narrow⁓cloths, in Yorkshire and Staffordshire.
1964L. A. Mannheim tr. Clauss & Meusel's Filter Pract. 63 (caption) Absorption curve of a deep red filter (*narrow-cut type). 1969Focal Encycl. Photogr. (rev. ed.) 615/1 Special narrow-cut tricolour filter sets are used to make indirect colour separation negatives from colour transparencies.
1802James Milit. Dict., Narrow Front, a battalion, &c. is said to assume a *narrow front, when it goes from line into column. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. s.v. Column, The formation of troops..in deep files and narrow front.
1888Daily News 29 Oct. 2/7 There is a slight revival in cords, braids, and *narrow goods.
1640Conveyance of land, Lincolnsh. (MS.), Et vnam selionem terre (anglice one *Narrow⁓land) in Scunthorpe.
[1979Jrnl. Money, Credit & Banking XI. 99 Poole and Lieberman..suggest that if the central bank attempts to control the level of narrowly defined money, which includes bank demand deposits and currency M1, the optimal reserve requirement ratio against time deposits should be zero.] 1981*Narrow money [see broad money s.v. broad a. D. 2]. 1983Times 9 Nov. 17/4 The other target money measures are all well above the permitted range, with the narrow money aggregate, M1, up 1·5 per cent last month. 1984Times 10 May 19/2 The London Business School has rallied to the cause of the Government's much-maligned narrow money target: M0{ddd}The new measure, which consists mainly of notes and coins in circulation as well as cash held by banks and banks' operational balances with the Bank of England, was introduced in the Budget to replace M1 which had become distorted by developments in the banking sector. 1986Times 19 Mar. 26/3 Changes in interest rates have a..direct effect on narrow money.
1932Faucett & Maki Study of Eng. Word-Values 7 It is fair to require of all students of English a mastery of wide-range words but..it is unfair standardizing of procedure to pass or fail students on their knowledge or lack of knowledge of *narrow-range words. 1964E. Uldall in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 279 The narrow-range ‘smooth’ contours..vary most often from one sentence to another.
1826Hist. Eur. in Ann. Reg. 59/1 The *narrow-trade or that which consisted in the manufacture of ribbands.
c1645in Archaeologia LII. 135 A hosyer & whole saleman for *narrow wares.
1767Ann. Reg. 152/1 The engine weavers were supposed to be ruinous to the *narrow weavers.
1851Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 37 *Narrow Work, excavations, 3 yards in width and under. 1875J. H. Collins Metal Mining 52 In deeper workings it is desirable..to lessen the proportions of ‘narrow work’, as the headings are called.
d. Of vowels, in contrast to broad or wide.
1844Proc. Philol. Soc. I. 283 The Greek substituted a long and broad vowel for the short and narrow vowel of the nominative. 1890Sweet Prim. Spoken Engl. 4 Each of the vowels..is either narrow or wide, according as the tongue and uvula are tense..or relaxed.
e. Denoting a type of phonetic transcription in which separate symbols are used to denote all identifiable features (phonemic and non-phonemic) of an utterance; opp. broad.
1877[see broad a. 5 c]. 1908H. Sweet Sounds of English 10 In comparing the sounds of a variety of languages..we require a ‘narrow’, that is, a minutely accurate notation covering the whole field of possible sounds. 1933Amer. Speech VIII. ii. 49/2, I have never been able to understand how there might be any advantage whatever of broad over narrow transcription for English. 1961Y. Olsson On Syntax Eng. Verb ii. 20 The editing [when linguists transcribe] would not imply a greater crime than a phonetician using a broad, instead of a narrow, notation. 1964D. Abercrombie Eng. Phonetic Texts 35 It is..convenient to use ‘broad’ as an equivalent of simple phonemic, and ‘narrow’ for any departure from this, either in the direction of comparative or in the direction of allophonic, or both together.
2. a. Of no great extent; small, limited in size; confined. narrow house, the grave.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xix, He hine ne mæᵹ furðum tobrædan Ofer þa nearwan eorðan ane [= Metr. x. 16 Ofer ðas nearowan..eorðan sceatas]. c1200Ormin 3687 Þatt illke child, tatt tær wass leȝȝd Inn an full naru cribbe. c1230Hali Meid. 42 Hwel he bið et hame, alle þine wide wanes þuncheð þe to nearewe. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings vi. 1 The place where we dwell..is to narow for vs. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 102 b, Certain Welshemen were lodged at a poore village named Cause, because in Caleys was verye narow lodgyng. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 204 The place being so narrow as shee could onely stand. 1663Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. i. ii. 40 Consider how..delicate a Workmanship must be employ'd to contrive into so narrow a compass the several Parts. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 124 With mighty Souls in narrow Bodies prest. 1752Hume Pol. Disc. x. 197 What an astonishing multitude in so narrow a country as antient Greece. 1810J. Porter Scot. Chiefs xi, Wallace's camp or the narrow house must be our prize. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 177 His careful hand,—The space was narrow,—having order'd all.
b. Lying or pressing close; confining.
971Blickl. Hom. 103 [Hie] wilnodan þæt he hie of þæm nearwan þeostrum alesde. c1000Riddles liii. 3 Þa wæron ᵹenumne nearwum bendum, ᵹefeterade fæste togædre. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4299 Þe brutons gonne to fle, Ac þo hii come among narwe hegges hii stode aȝen anon. 1633May Hen. II, vi. 508 He drawes his martiall forces vp, to presse With narrow siege the Towne of Limoges. a1770Jortin Serm. (1771) II. xiv. 276 Our knowledge of God is confined in narrow bounds. 1793Cowper On Bill Mortality iii, Life, within a narrow ring Of giddy joys comprised. 1821–2Shelley Chas. I, iv. 45 A low dark roof, a damp and narrow wall. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 72 The immediate and permanent authority of both was confined within very narrow bounds.
3. a. Limited in range or scope; restricted.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §4 It is so narowe a point to know, that it is harde to make a man to vnderstande it by wrytynge. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvii. §2 The question is yet driuen to a narrower issue. 1625Bacon Ess., Viciss. Things (Arb.) 569 As for the great Burnings by Lightnings, which are often in the West Indies, they are but narrow. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iv. xi. §10 How foolish..a thing it is for a Man of a narrow Knowledge..to expect Demonstration..in things not capable of it. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 61 One science only will one genius fit; So vast is art, so narrow human wit. 1771Junius Lett. I. (1788) 271 His plan, I think, is too narrow. a1806H. K. White Poems (1837) 36 Can the voice of narrow Fame repay The loss of health? 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xiii. 234 The earldom of Northumberland in the narrower sense of the name was vacant.
b. Limited in amount; very small or poor.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. iv. 8 Most narrow measure [he] lent me. 1668R. Steele Husbandm. Calling ix. (1672) 239 Let me rather have a narrow estate and wide soul. 1711Addison Spect. No. 108 ⁋7 We find several Citizens that were launched into the World with narrow Fortunes. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) II. ii. 112 His circumstances were very narrow. 1814Jane Austen Lady Susan iii. (1879) 208 In narrow circumstances it was proper to render her pecuniary assistance. 1819Shelley Cenci ii. ii. 12 He has wide wants, and narrow powers. 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 677 The court overruled the objection, but only by the narrowest majority.
c. Of time: Short, brief. rare.
1611Coryat Crudities (1776) I. 144 Had I not beene brought into such a narrow compasse of time. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. vi. 117 From this narrow time of gestation [may] ensue a..smalnesse in the exclusion. 1819Shelley Cenci v. iv. 100 Upon the giddy, sharp and narrow hour Tottering beneath us.
†d. (See quot.) Obs. rare—0.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v., 'Tis all narrow, said by the Butchers one to another when their Meat proves not so good as expected.
e. Econ. (See quots.)
1935Economist 12 Oct. 712/2 Technically, markets remain ‘narrow’, and day-to-day price movements are correspondingly exaggerated. 1940G. Crowther Outl. Money vii. 267 The market is at all times ‘narrow’, that is, quotations are available only for half a dozen of the most important currencies. 1962S. Strand Marketing Dict. 474 Narrow market, in the stock market, a dull trading session, generally limited to a few fields. 1965J. L. Hanson Dict. Econ. 288/2 Narrow market, a term used more particularly of stock exchange securities of which there is only a small supply available in the market.
4. a. Sparing, close, parsimonious, mean. Now dial.
a1225Ancr. R. 430 Beoð large touward ham, þauh ȝe þe neruwure beon and te herdure to ou suluen. a1586Sidney Arcadia ii. (1613) 156 To narrow breasts he comes all wrapt in gaine. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ix. 261 Nouther..ouer skairs, narraw, or gredie. 1659A. Hay Diary (S.H.S.) 220 It was not expedient to me to buy from them becaus they are somquhat narrow. 1773Johnson in Boswell, Archibald..was narrow in his ordinary expenses. 1796Hist. Ned Evans I. 146 He was..so extremely narrow as to allow himself little more than the bare necessaries of life. 1821Galt Ann. Parish iii, He was a narrow ailing man. 1897J. Gordon Vill. & Doctor 72 It ain't as I was a narrer man.., I bain't mean.
b. Lacking in breadth of view or sympathy; narrow-souled, narrow-minded, illiberal, prejudiced, bigoted.
1664Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 6 They are but narrow Souls, and not worthy the name of Philosophers. 1724A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. 9 Some Jews being so narrow as to think Circumcision..necessary. 1760Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 231 People who have their attention eternally fixed upon one object, can't help being a little narrow in their notions. 1825Macaulay Ess., Milton (1851) I. 22 The days of cold hearts and narrow minds. 1874Blackie Self-Cult. 30 The merely professional man is always a narrow man.
c. So of actions, views, disposition, etc.
1657in Burton's Diary (1828) II. 248 It is very narrow not to let it extend to the protestants elsewhere, as those in Munster. 1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 61 We have not those narrow conceptions of these subtle Spirits. 1711Addison Spect. No. 126 ⁋9, I daily find more Instances of this narrow Party-Humour. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. III. 177 The events..have undoubtedly been diminished by the narrow and imperfect view of the historians of the times. 1813Shelley Q. Mab v. 163 Blunting the keenness of his spiritual sense With narrow schemings and unworthy cares. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. §1. 452 There was nothing narrow or illiberal in his early training.
d. Exclusive.
1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 143 In no danger of falling under the dominion either of a despot or of a narrow oligarchy. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 208 An oligarchy not less proud and even more narrow than their brethren of Bern and Venice.
5. a. Strict, close, precise, careful.
a1225Ancr. R. 144 Þe sterke dom of domesdei—& so neruh mid alle. Ibid. 156 Hwo se wule ivinden et te neruwe domesmon merci & ore. 1552in Liturg. Serv. Q. Eliz. (1847) 246 If thou shouldest enter into thy narrow judgment with me,..I were never able to suffer it. 1579Fulke Confut. Sanders 692 You are..a narrowe vewer of such idle pictures. 1607Norden Surv. Dial. i. 4 Millions..are now dayly troubled with your so narrow looking thereinto. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 515 Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view And narrower Scrutiny. 1710Addison Tatler No. 162 ⁋2, I have made a narrow Search into the Nature of the old Roman Censors. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. xxx, Seeking to make a narrower inquiry.
b. transf. of the eyes, etc. (Partly in sense 1.)
1577Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 160 They sit still, pinking with their narrow eies. 1592R. D. Hypnerotomachia 55 b, An extreame delight and desired nourishment unto a narrowe looke and greedie eye. 1611Beaum. & Fl. Philaster iii. i, I..plac'd thee there To pry with narrow eyes into her deeds. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxix, Looking into her eyes with his narrow gaze.
6. Near, close.
†a. Coming near the truth. Obs.
1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 37 Thei haue a narrowe gesse by all likelihoode, that the Hare was there a little before. 1679Evelyn Sylva (ed. 3) 4 What some upon an accurate and narrow guess have not feared to pronounce.
†b. Of friendship: Close, intimate. Obs. rare.
1556Aurelio & Isab. (1608) A iv, Remembring them bothe of their narrowe frendshippe. 1574Hellowes Guevara's Fam. Ep. (1584) 158 The Judge cannot holde narrow friendship with any man.
c. Of an escape: Barely effected.
1581Rich Farew. E j b, She ioyed nothyng so muche in the narrowe escape she had made with life. 1749Fielding Tom Jones viii. ix. heading, The lucky and narrow escape of Partridge. 1814Scott Wav. xxx, He had made a narrow escape, however; the bullet had grazed his head. 1860Sala Baddington Peerage xx, What's a narrow squeak, a close shave, to such as I am? 1874Stubbs Const. Hist. I. viii. 223 The escape was a narrow one.
d. Bowls. (See quot.)
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Narrow, when the Biass of the Bowl holds too much. 1882[see narrow adv. 3].
7. Comb., as narrow-backed, narrow-beamed, narrow-billed, narrow-bladed, narrow-bodied, narrow-bottomed, narrow-brained, narrow-brimmed, narrow-cast, narrow-celled, narrow-chested, † narrow-clothed, narrow-compassed, narrow-ended, narrow-grated, narrow-gutted, narrow-heeled, narrow-holed, narrow-laced, narrow-limited, narrow-listed, narrow-meshed, narrow-muzzled, narrow-nosed, narrow-quartered, narrow-shared, narrow-shouldered, narrow-sighted, narrow-slitted, narrow-slotted, narrow-snouted, narrow-sterned, narrow-streeted, narrow-throated, narrow-toned, narrow-topped, narrow-verged, narrow-visioned, narrow-waisted, narrow-wheeled. Also narrow-eyed, -hearted, -minded, -necked, -souled, etc.
1847Youatt Pig 58 *Narrow-backed, flat-sided..animals.
1927Observer 14 Aug. 7/4 Agile, *narrow-beamed cars, with plenty of acceleration and ‘safety-first’ brake-power, are his ideal.
1895Funk's Stand. Dict., *Narrow-billed. 1909A. E. Mack Bush Calendar 9 Birds breeding in August... Chalcococcyx basalis. Narrow-billed bronze cuckoo. 1953D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles I. 299 There is much to be said in favour of retaining these broad-billed buntings, as distinct from the narrow-billed species, under the specific name tschusii.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 465 Modelling it..with a sharp *narrow-bladed knife.
1949M. Mead Male & Female vi. 133 The slender, *narrow-bodied of the Arapesh, Tchambuli, Swede, Eskimo, and Hottentot. 1963Times 1 Feb. 14/5 This narrow-bodied look was extended to coats.
1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 4 In a *narrow-bottom'd Ditch, if Cattle get into it, they cannot stand to turn themselves. 1777Watson in Phil. Trans. LXVIII. 876 Put it into a narrow-bottomed ale glass.
1860Emerson Cond. Life, Consid. Wks. (Bohn) II. 414 No shovel-handed, *narrow-brained..stockingers.
1686Lond. Gaz. No. 2145/4 A little *narrow-brim'd black Hat.
1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 26 Mar. 1776, In these flutes sowed the seed *narrow-cast.
1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 376 The periphery of the cylinder is occupied by a meristematic *narrow-celled ring.
1873Routledge's Yng. Gentlm. Mag. 178/1 [He] made everybody else in the field look *narrow-chested.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 540 If a wight vertuous, but *narwe clothid, To lordes curtes now of dayes go.
1647H. More Song of Soul ii. App. ciii, Within his *narrow-compast brains.
1877Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. 195 *Narrow-ended and broad-ended papillæ.
1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest (1820) III. 280 Its heavy black walls, and *narrow-grated windows.
1903Dialect Notes II. 299 (Cape Cod dial.) *Narrow gutted, mean, ungenerous. 1903Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 228/2 Narrow-gutted, of horses..weak in the loins. Ibid., Not[tinghamshire]. A narrow-gutted brute. 1924D. H. Lawrence Let. 29 Oct. (1962) II. 816 A narrow-gutted ‘artist’ with a stutter. 1965G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. xviii. 283/2 Unless the seam is narrow-gutted as at Kawakawa,..it seems certain that coal does not exist above the greywacke.
1615Markham Country Contentm. i. xix. 82 That Cock is said to be sharp heel'd or *narrow heel'd, which every time he riseth hitteth, and draweth blood of his adversary.
1531Elyot Gov. ii. xiv, In a *narowe holed seeue they will stille abide with the good corne.
1882Masson in Macm. Mag. XLV. 251 Jeffrey's more *narrow⁓laced clientage of the blue-and-yellow.
1690Child Disc. Trade Pref. (1698) 21 These trades..the Dutch interest of three per cent. and *narrow-limited companies in England, have beat us out of.
1603Burford Reg. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), Various Collect. I. 72 Confecit..duos pannos laneos vocatos *narowe listed whites.
1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 325 Bands of tissue, appearing irregularly *narrow-meshed in cross-section.
1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 204 Lean-jawed, *narrow-muzzled animals.
1846F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 269 A little osseous projection..in *narrow-nosed people. 1884J. Tait Mind in Matter (1892) 61 Discussions about narrow-nosed apes.
a1618Raleigh Royal Navy 13 So will all *narrow quartered ships sinck after the Tayle.
1765Univ. Mag. XXXVII. 33/2 He plowed them up with a *narrow-shared wheel-plow.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, ccxcvii, Soe may the *Narrow-should'red Pigmey heave Mount Caucasus.
1708Bp. Berkeley Serm. Wks. 1871 IV. 601 We *narrow-sighted mortals.
1905J. London Jacket (1915) xi. 90 His eyes..were cunning and..*narrow-slitted.
1923Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 234 The *narrow-slotted pill-boxes.
1897Günther in Mary Kingsley W. Africa 708 Both the *narrow-snouted form..and the broad-snouted.
1755Johnson, Pink,..a kind of heavy *narrow-sterned ship.
1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) I. 41 A commercial city.., *narrow-streeted and sometimes pestilential.
1674Hickman Quinquart. Hist. (ed. 2) 48, I see not what there is in these passages, which the most strait, *narrow-throated Calvinist may not swallow.
1865M. Arnold Ess. Crit. Pref. 14 That powerful, but at present somewhat *narrow-toned organ, the modern Englishman.
1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 355 When they are cold put them into *narrow-topped jars.
a1678Marvell Garden i, Some single herb or tree, Whose short and *narrow-verged shade Does prudently their toils upbraid.
1868Croom Robertson in Fortn. Rev. Dec. 635 We are taunted with being a *narrow-visioned people. 1688Holme Armoury iii. v. 237/2 The Gowns were broad-Shouldered, narrow-Wasted. 1881Daily Tel. 5 July 2/1 A great narrow-waisted yawl, almost on her beam ends.
1758Anr. Reg. i. 112/2 A *narrow wheeled waggon.
B. n.
1. A narrow part, place, or thing; the narrow part of something. Also fig. Now rare.
13..Guy Warw. (A.) 3493 Into þe narwe hij come, hem to lett. 1535Coverdale 2 Esdras vii. 5 Yf he wente not thorow the narow, how might he come in to the brode? 1642Rogers Naaman 37 We cannot speed, because we still keep a breadth in his narrow, and in our afflictions are light-hearted. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. i. App. (1852) 339 When it came to the narrow of any question he would still profess himself conquered by Mr. Hooker's reason. 1742Richardson De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. II. 270 We might also mention another Narrow; that is, the Minds of the Generality of its People.
2. spec. (Chiefly in pl.)
a. A narrow part of a sound, strait, or river.
1633T. James Voy. 106 We were in the narrow of the Straight. 1665Lond. Gaz. No. 5/4 Three or four Privateers are crusing in the Narrow. 1702Ibid. No. 3844/4 In the Narrow off of Winterton. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 145 At Four this Morning weighed, and steered E.N.E. for the Narrows. 1840Marryat Poor Jack li, We should have been taken possession of by a privateer in the very narrows. 1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. 4 Through the narrows the tide bubbles, muddy like a river.
b. A narrow part of a pass or valley; a narrow way between mountains. (Chiefly U.S.)
1716B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1865) I. 23 They Marched until they came to the narrow of the Neck. 1768C. Beatty Jrnl. 16 We travelled up Juniata river,..through a bad road, to a place called the Narrows. 1788M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 403 We passed the narrows or gaps of two ranges of high mountains. 1808Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) 175 A fine creek, which we followed through narrows in the mountains for about six miles.
c. A narrow part of a street.
1772C. Hutton Bridges 2 Streets..without narrows or crooked windings. 1866Conington æneid 49 Some block the narrows of the street. 1882Daily News 18 Aug. 3/1 Lives there the elderly man..who has not been sorely frightened by the risks encountered in those terrible narrows?
d. Mining. A narrow gallery.
1850Ansted Elem. Geol. §1106 These galleries are of different dimensions, the larger ones..are called broads, and they are intersected by other galleries at right-angles to them whose dimensions are not quite so large, and which are called narrows. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 173.
▪ II. ˈnarrow, adv. Now rare.
Forms: 1 nearwe, 3 neruwe, 3–4 nar(e)we, 4–5 narow, (5 -oo), 6–8 narrow.
[OE. nearwe, f. nearu narrow a.]
†1. Closely, straitly, strictly. Obs.
Beowulf 976 Hyne sar hafað in nydgripe nearwe befongen. a1000Boeth. Metr. xxi. 5 Se ðe..sie nearwe ᵹehefted mid þisses mæran middanᵹeardes..lufe. a1225Ancr. R. 268 Ȝif þu wult þet heo drede þe, hold hire neruwe. a1250Owl & Night. 68 Alle ho the driveth honne,..And wel narewe the bi-ledet. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 16 Þe kyng was narow holden, his folk alle to dryuen. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 600 Cleopatra, Loue hadde..hym so narwe boundyn In his las. c1460Towneley Myst. xiii. 436 Thay will nyp vs fulle naroo. [1667Milton P.L. vii. 21 Narrower bound Within the visible Diurnal Spheare.]
†2. Closely, carefully, keenly. Obs.
a900Cynewulf Elene 1158 Þeodcwen ongan..secan nearwe ᵹeneahhe, to hwan hio þa næᵹlas..ᵹedon meahte. c1290Beket 1745 in S.E. Leg. I. 156 Wel narewe þe king him gan bi-þenche to derne is luþere þouȝt. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5954 He biþoȝte him wel narwe ȝif þer miȝte be eny red. c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 744 How excellent franchise In women is whan they hem narwe avise. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 15264 Many a way that lady soght And wel narwe sche hir be-thoght. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxii, To Hector he marked hath so narowe That he smote him euen amid the face. c1592Greene Wks. (Rtldg.) 317/1 Looking more narrow by the fire's flame, I spied his quiver.
Comb.1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 148 Wee'll ouer⁓reach..The narrow prying father.
3. Narrowly, in various senses; in a narrow or close manner.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 213 Þe sullere doð narewere þane he sholde, and te biggere rumluker þan he sholde. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 371 Ȝif I ȝede to the plow I pynched so narwe, That a fote-londe or a forwe fecchen I wolde. 1697Dryden æneid v. 675 Mnestheus..miss'd the Dove. Yet miss'd so narrow, that he cut the Cord. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 274 If this kind of grass-ground is plowed..shallow and narrow. 1882T. Hardy Two on Tower xxvii, ‘I am not skilful’, she said, ‘I always bowl narrow’.
b. to fall narrow, to fall short. to go narrow, to keep the legs too close together. ? Obs.
1648Crashaw Delights of Muses Wks. (1904) 129 [He] ne're suffred yet his little arrow, Of Heavens high'st archies to fall narrow. 1697Lond. Gaz. No. 3289/4 Lost..a Bayish dun Horse about 15 hands,..goes narrow. 1727Bailey, vol. II. s.v., A Horse is said to go narrow, when he does not take Ground enough, that does not bear far enough out, to the one Hand or to the other.
▪ III. narrow, v.|ˈnærəʊ|
Forms: 1 nearwian, 4 narwe, narewe, nerewe, 5, 7– narrow.
[OE. nearwian, f. nearw-, nearu narrow a.; but in later use prob. a new formation directly from the adj. OE. had also nyrwan (= *nięrwan) and ᵹenyrwan to compress, constrain, afflict, etc.]
1. intr. To become narrower, to decrease in width or breadth; to diminish, lessen, contract. Also with down.
a1000Gen. 1570 Sefa nearwode. a1000Riming Poem 37 Sinc searwade, sib nearwade. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4577 Brod & þykke þe gynnynge was, & euere hit nareweþ [v.r. nereweþ] rysande on heyght. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 57 Þenne he narweþ to þe narwenesse of sex hondred paas. 1746in Acc. Fr. Settlem. N. Amer. 20 Above that isle it narrows so, that before Quebec it is not above a mile wide. 1773A. Grant Lett. fr. Mountains (1813) I. xiii. 113 The glen..instead of narrowing,..grows broader as it retires. 1821Byron Two Foscari iii. i. 410 The time narrows, signor. 1847Tennyson Princ. iii. 180 Following up The river as it narrow'd to the hills. 1897H. Drummond Ideal Life 101 Have you ever noticed, how Christ's life narrowed? 1906L. J. Vance Terence O'Rourke ii. ii. 214 Then it narrowed down to a mere contest of endurance.
2. a. trans. To make narrower; to reduce the breadth of (a thing); † also fig. to constrict, constrain, oppress. Also with down and in.
a1000Riddles xxvi. 10 Feleþ sona mines ᵹemotes, seo þe mec nearwað, wif wundenlocc. a1300E.E. Psalter xxxiv. 5 Þai be als dust ogain wind..And louerdes aungel narwand þam. 1429Coventry Leet Bk. (E.E.T.S.) 118 The meyre shuld go be all the brooke, & se where hit is narowed..or stopped. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 64 At the straits of Magellan, where the land is narrowed. 1768Conn. Col. Rec. (1885) XIII. 52 By encroachments said road is so narrowed that it is rendered almost useless. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 75 A northeast wind narrows the stream. 1834McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 321 Abdomen nearly square, posteriorly narrowed. 1860O. W. Holmes Elsie V. (1887) 84 She narrowed her lids slightly. 1885J. Morris Kotaka xi. 106 The entire force and volume of the Fuzikawa being here narrowed down to the width of the gorge. 1885J. W. Dawson Egypt & Syria ii. 39 It is just where the broad expanse of alluvium..is narrowed in by that great promontory. 1889R. L. Stevenson Master of Ballantrae iv. 122 The family was now so narrowed down (indeed, there were..just the father and the two sons) that it was possible to break the entail. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 835 The sweat-pores were obviously narrowed by pressure.
b. To limit or restrict; to make less or smaller; to contract; to reduce.
1674Govt. Tongue 168 We see in all things how desuetude do's contract and narrow our faculties. 1706Stanhope Paraphr. III. 428 Subtle Glosses had narrowed the just extent of this Word. 1769Burke Obs. Late St. Nation Wks. II. 115 He has here pretty well narrowed the field of taxation. 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1083 A by-law,..if it narrow the number of those out of whom the election is to be made, is void. 1859J. Martineau Ess. (1866) I. 91 It greatly narrows the ground of difference. 1893Sir R. Ball Story of Sun 282 This consideration narrows the search for the body.
c. To drive or press closer.
1814Scott Wav. lxv, Eager to distress and narrow the posts of the enemy. 1864Tennyson Boadicea 39 Tho' the gathering enemy narrow thee.
▪ IV. narrow
dial. f. ne'er a adj. phr. |