You can refer to a narrow strip of sea which joins two large areas of sea as a strait or thestraits.
An estimated 1600 vessels pass through the strait annually.
...the Straits of Gibraltar.
Synonyms: channel, sound, narrows, stretch of water More Synonyms of strait
2. plural noun [adjective NOUN]
If someone is in dire or desperate straits, they are in a very difficult situation, usually because they do not have much money.
If we had a child, we'd be in really dire straits.
The company's closure has left many small businessmen in desperate financial straits.
More Synonyms of strait
strait in British English
(streɪt)
noun
1. (often plural)
a.
a narrow channel of the sea linking two larger areas of sea
b.
(capital as part of a name)
the Strait of Gibraltar
2. (often plural)
a position of acute difficulty (often in the phrase in direordesperate straits)
3. archaic
a narrow place or passage
adjective archaic
4.
(of spaces, etc) affording little room
5.
(of circumstances, etc) limiting or difficult
6.
severe, strict, or scrupulous
Derived forms
straitly (ˈstraitly)
adverb
straitness (ˈstraitness)
noun
Word origin
C13: from Old French estreit narrow, from Latin strictus constricted, from stringere to bind tightly
strait in American English
(streɪt)
adjective
1. Archaic
restricted or constricted; narrow; tight; confined
2. Archaic
strict; rigid; exacting
3. Rare
straitened; difficult; distressing
noun
4. Rare
a narrow passage
5. [often pl.]
a narrow waterway connecting two large bodies of water
6. [usually pl.]
difficulty; distress
7. Rare
an isthmus
SIMILAR WORDS: eˈmergency
Word origin
ME streit < OFr estreit < L strictus: see strict
Examples of 'strait' in a sentence
strait
In the narrow strait just one oil tanker sunk would halt shipping for months.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
There were meant to be ten but five had to pull out because of financial straits.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
When you were in dire straits she was superb.
Paige, Frances The Glasgow Girls (1994)
The integrity of international sport is in dire straits.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
People come up with the best ideas when they are in dire straits.
Vera Peiffer POSITIVE THINKING: Everything you have always known about positive thinking but wereafraid to put into practice (2001)
What is not in dispute is that thousands of people in this part of the world are in dire straits.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It's not wrong to be in difficult straits.
Christianity Today (2000)
That's not to say that companies in financial straits always hire externally.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The country's rail capacity is squeezing into the narrowest straits in its history.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Of course, a life on the strait and narrow is no life at all.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The industry in America is in dire straits.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The cuts have been imposed by central Government because the economy is in dire straits.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
How dare he enjoy himself with England in such dire straits!
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
He's in financial dire straits.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
I am in dire financial straits, though not through overspending.
The Sun (2014)
No. At its narrowest point the strait is 28 miles wide.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
No wonder we're in financial dire straits when we're so easily led into going along with it and spending money to vote.
The Sun (2008)
His administration has reached agreement with Beijing allowing regular direct flights for the first time in 60 years across the narrow straits that divide the bitter foes.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
In other languages
strait
British English: strait NOUN
You can refer to a narrow strip of sea which joins two large areas of sea as a strait or the straits.
An estimated 1600 vessels pass through the strait annually.
American English: strait
Brazilian Portuguese: estreito
Chinese: 海峡
European Spanish: estrecho
French: détroit
German: Meerenge
Italian: stretto
Japanese: 海峡
Korean: 해협
European Portuguese: estreito
Latin American Spanish: estrecho
All related terms of 'strait'
Bass Strait
a channel between mainland Australia and Tasmania , linking the Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea
Cook Strait
the strait between North and South Islands , New Zealand . Width : 26 km (16 miles)
Palk Strait
a channel between SE India and N Sri Lanka. Width : about 64 km (40 miles)
Bering Strait
a strait between Alaska and Russia, connecting the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean
Davis Strait
a strait between Baffin Island, in Canada , and Greenland
Hudson Strait
a body of water in NE Canada linking the Atlantic with Hudson Bay
Johore Strait
a narrow strait between Malaya and Singapore Island
Korea Strait
a strait between South Korea and SW Japan , linking the Sea of Japan ( East Sea) with the East China Sea
Menai Strait
a channel of the Irish Sea between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of NW Wales : famous suspension bridge (1819–26) designed by Thomas Telford and tubular bridge (1846–50) by Robert Stephenson . Length: 24 km (15 miles). Width : up to 3 km (2 miles)
Soenda Strait
a strait between Sumatra and Java , linking the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean . Narrowest point: about 26 km (16 miles)
strait-laced
If you describe someone as strait-laced , you disapprove of them because they have very strict views about what kind of behaviour is moral or acceptable .
Sumba Strait
an area of water separating Sumba , in the Lesser Sunda Islands, from Flores
Sunda Strait
a strait between Sumatra and Java , linking the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean . Narrowest point: about 26 km (16 miles)
Taiwan Strait
an arm of the Pacific between Taiwan and mainland China , linking the East and South China Seas
Tatar Strait
an arm of the Pacific between the mainland of SE Russia and Sakhalin Island, linking the Sea of Japan with the Sea of Okhotsk . Length: about 560 km (350 miles)
Torres Strait
a strait between NE Australia and S New Guinea , linking the Arafura Sea with the Coral Sea. Width : about 145 km (90 miles)
Denmark Strait
a channel between SE Greenland and Iceland , linking the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic
Formosa Strait
→ Taiwan Strait
strait-lacedly
in a strait-laced manner
Surabaya Strait
a narrow strait in Indonesia , separating E Java and Madura Island
Tsugaru Strait
a channel between N Honshu and S Hokkaido islands, Japan . Width : about 30 km (20 miles)
strait-lacedness
the state or quality of being strait-laced
Strait of Canso
a channel in Canada, between the Nova Scotia mainland and S Cape Breton Island
Strait of Dover
a strait between SE England and N France , linking the English Channel with the North Sea. Width : about 32 km (20 miles)
Strait of Magellan
a strait between the mainland of S South America and Tierra del Fuego, linking the S Pacific with the S Atlantic . Length: 600 km (370 miles). Width : up to 32 km (20 miles)
Strait of Otranto
a stretch of water between SE Italy and Albania , connecting the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea; of strategic importance during World War I
Strait of Tiran
a strait between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. Length: 16 km (10 miles). Width : 8 km (5 miles)
Strait of Gibraltar
a narrow strait between the S tip of Spain and the NW tip of Africa, linking the Mediterranean with the Atlantic
Juan de Fuca Strait
strait between Vancouver Island and NW Wash .: c. 100 mi (161 km) long
Strait of Juan de Fuca
a strait between Vancouver Island (Canada) and NW Washington (US). Length: about 129 km (80 miles). Width : about 24 km (15 miles)
the Strait of Gibraltar
a city on the Rock of Gibraltar , a limestone promontory at the tip of S Spain: settled by Moors in 711 and taken by Spain in 1462; ceded to Britain in 1713; a former British crown colony (1830–1969), and still a United Kingdom Overseas Territory ; a naval and air base of strategic importance . Pop: 29 111 (2013 est). Area: 6.5 sq km (2.5 sq miles)
Florida
a state of the southeastern US, between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico : consists mostly of a low-lying peninsula ending in the Florida Keys a chain of small islands off the coast of S Florida, extending southwest for over 160 km (100 miles). Capital: Tallahassee . Pop: 17 019 068 (2003 est). Area: 143 900 sq km (55 560 sq miles)
Georgia
a republic in NW Asia, on the Black Sea: an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, it was divided by Turkey and Persia in 1555; became part of Russia in 1918 and a separate Soviet republic in 1936; its independence was recognized internationally in 1992. It is rich in minerals and has hydroelectric resources . Official language: Georgian . Religion : Orthodox Christian majority , Muslim minority . Currency : lari . Capital: Tbilisi . Pop: 3 912 061 (2017 est). Area: 69 493 sq km (26 831 sq miles)
Singapore
a republic in SE Asia , occupying one main island and over 50 small islands at the S end of the Malay Peninsula : established as a British trading post in 1819 and became part of the Straits Settlements in 1826; occupied by the Japanese (1942–45); a British colony from 1946, becoming self-governing in 1959; part of the Federation of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965, when it became an independent republic (within the Commonwealth ). Official languages: Chinese , Malay, English, and Tamil . Religion : Buddhist, Christian , Taoist, traditional beliefs , and Muslim . Currency : Singapore dollar . Capital: Singapore. Pop: 5 708 844 (2017 est). Area: now over 700 sq km (270 sq miles), increased in recent years as a result of land reclamation schemes
Chinese translation of 'strait'
strait
(streɪt)
n(c)
(Geo) (also straits) 海峡(峽) (hǎixiá) (个(個), gè)
Derived Forms
straitsn pl : to be in dire or desperate straits处(處)于(於)艰(艱)难(難)的境地 (chǔyú jiānnán de jìngdì)
(noun)
Definition
a narrow channel of the sea linking two larger areas of sea
Thousands of vessels pass through the straits annually.
Synonyms
channel
Oil spilled into the channel following a collision between a tanker and a trawler.
sound
a blizzard blasting great drifts of snow across the sound
narrows
stretch of water
sea passage
(plural noun)
Definition
a position of extreme difficulty
If the business fell through, we'd be in really dire straits.
Synonyms
difficulty
crisis
mess
pass
hole (slang)
emergency
distress
dilemma
embarrassment
plight
hardship
uphill (South Africa)
predicament
extremity
perplexity
panic stations (informal)
pretty or fine kettle of fish (informal)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of sound
Definition
a channel between two larger areas of sea or between an island and the mainland
a blizzard blasting great drifts of snow across the sound