In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
STRAITEN
straiten
(verb) squeeze together
straiten, distress
(verb) bring into difficulties or distress, especially financial hardship
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Verb
straiten (third-person singular simple present straitens, present participle straitening, simple past and past participle straitened)
To make strait; to narrow or confine to a smaller space.
To restrict or diminish, especially financially.
Misspelling of straighten.
Usage notes
To "straighten the river channel" means to remove the bends and curves, but not necessarily to narrow it. To "straiten the river channel" means to make it narrow, but not necessarily to make it straight. The same construction project could have both effects.
The difference may be seen in the nautical term "strait", for example Bass Strait (off the south coast of Victoria, Australia), which is a narrow stretch of sea. It is also used in the expression "to be in dire straits", as in perilously tight circumstances.
Synonyms
• (narrow or confine to a smaller space): contract; See also straiten
• (restrict or diminish): check, restrain; See also curb
Anagrams
• intraset, intreats, nitrates, rantiest, tainters, tartines, tertians, train set, trainest, trainset
Source: Wiktionary
Strait"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Straitened; p. pr. & vb. n. Straitening.]
1. To make strait; to make narrow; hence, to contract; to confine. Waters, when straitened, as at the falls of bridges, give a roaring noise. Bacon. In narrow circuit, straitened by a foe. Milton.
2. To make tense, or tight; to tighten. They straiten at each end the cord. Pope.
3. To restrict; to distress or embarrass in respect of means or conditions of life; -- used chiefly in the past participle; -- as, a man straitened in his circumstances.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
17 April 2025
SPONGE
(noun) a porous mass of interlacing fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb water or any porous rubber or cellulose product similarly used
Coffee Trivia
