NARROWING

constricting, constrictive, narrowing

(adjective) (of circumstances) tending to constrict freedom

tapered, tapering, narrowing

(adjective) becoming gradually narrower; “long tapering fingers”; “trousers with tapered legs”

narrowing

(noun) the act of making something narrower

narrowing

(noun) an instance of becoming narrow

narrowing

(noun) a decrease in width

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Verb

narrowing

present participle of narrow

Noun

narrowing (plural narrowings)

The process of becoming narrow.

The part of a stocking that is narrowed.

Source: Wiktionary

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Nar"row*ing, n.

1. The act of contracting, or of making or becoming less in breadth or extent.

2. The part of a stocking which is narrowed.

NARROW

Nar"row, a. [Compar. Narrower; superl. Narrowest.] Etym: [OE. narwe, naru, AS. nearu; akin to OS. naru, naro.]

1. Of little breadth; not wide or broad; having little distance from side to side; as, a narrow board; a narrow street; a narrow hem. Hath passed in safety through the narrow seas. Shak.

2. Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed. The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world. Bp. Wilkins.

3. Having but a little margin; having barely sufficient space, time, or number, etc.; close; near; -- with special reference to some peril or misfortune; as, a narrow shot; a narrow escape; a narrow majority. Dryden.

4. Limited as to means; straitened; pinching; as, narrow circumstances.

5. Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted; as, a narrow mind; narrow views. "A narrow understanding." Macaulay.

6. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish. A very narrow and stinted charity. Smalridge.

7. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact. But first with narrow search I must walk round This garden, and no corner leave unspied. Milton.

8. (Phon.)

Definition: Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; -- distinguished from wide; as e (eve) and oo (food), etc., from ì (ìll) and oo (foot), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, § 13.

Note: Narrow is not unfrequently prefixed to words, especially to participles and adjectives, forming compounds of obvious signification; as, narrow-bordered, narrow-brimmed, narrow-breasted, narrow-edged, narrow-faced, narrow-headed, narrow-leaved, narrow- pointed, narrow-souled, narrow-sphered, etc. Narrow gauge. (Railroad) See Note under Gauge, n., 6.

Nar"row, n.; pl. Narrows (.

Definition: A narrow passage; esp., a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water; -- usually in the plural; as, The Narrows of New York harbor. Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerous narrow. Gladstone.

Nar"row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Narrowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Narrowing.] Etym: [AS. nearwian.]

1. To lessen the breadth of; to contract; to draw into a smaller compass; to reduce the width or extent of. Sir W. Temple.

2. To contract the reach or sphere of; to make less liberal or more selfish; to limit; to confine; to restrict; as, to narrow one's views or knowledge; to narrow a question in discussion. Our knowledge is much more narrowed if we confine ourselves to our own solitary reasonings. I. Watts.

3. (Knitting)

Definition: To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.

Nar"row, v. i.

1. To become less broad; to contract; to become narrower; as, the sea narrows into a strait.

2. (Man.)

Definition: Not to step out enough to the one hand or the other; as, a horse narrows. Farrier's Dict.

3. (Knitting)

Definition: To contract the size of a stocking or other knit article, by taking two stitches into one.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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