Strait
[streɪt] or [stret]
Definition
(noun.) a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water.
(adj.) narrow; 'strait is the gate' .
Checked by Bianca--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) A variant of Straight.
(superl.) Narrow; not broad.
(superl.) Tight; close; closely fitting.
(superl.) Close; intimate; near; familiar.
(superl.) Strict; scrupulous; rigorous.
(superl.) Difficult; distressful; straited.
(superl.) Parsimonious; niggargly; mean.
(adv.) Strictly; rigorously.
(a.) A narrow pass or passage.
(a.) A (comparatively) narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water; -- often in the plural; as, the strait, or straits, of Gibraltar; the straits of Magellan; the strait, or straits, of Mackinaw.
(a.) A neck of land; an isthmus.
(a.) Fig.: A condition of narrowness or restriction; doubt; distress; difficulty; poverty; perplexity; -- sometimes in the plural; as, reduced to great straits.
(v. t.) To put to difficulties.
Typed by Howard
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Narrow, close, contracted, constricted, not broad, not wide.[2]. Strict, rigorous, rigid, severe.
n. [1]. Narrow pass (especially between two seas), gut, narrows.[2]. Distress, difficulty, perplexity, dilemma, embarrassment, pinch, exigency, emergency, critical situation.
Typist: Tito
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See NARROW]
SYN:Close, strict, narrow,[See BOISTEROUS]
Checked by Letitia
Definition
adj. difficult: distressful: (obs. strict rigorous: narrow so in B.).—n. a narrow pass in a mountain or in the ocean between two portions of land: difficulty distress.—v.t. to stretch tighten: to distress.—v.t. Strait′en to make strait or narrow: to confine: to draw tight: to distress: to put into difficulties.—adjs. Straight′-heart′ed stingy; Strait′-laced rigid or narrow in opinion.—adv. Strait′ly narrowly: (B.) strictly.—ns. Strait′ness state of being strait or narrow: strictness: (B.) distress or difficulty; Strait′-waist′coat Strait′-jack′et a dress made with long sleeves which are tied behind so that the arms are confined.
Edited by Alta
Examples
- I simply tell you that I am in a strait. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- The strait is only thirteen miles wide in its narrowest part. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Many that want food and clothing have cheerier lives and brighter prospects than she had; many, harassed by poverty, are in a strait less afflictive. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It is a great strait, my child. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- So do nuns, with their close cell, their iron lamp, their robe strait as a shroud, their bed narrow as a coffin. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- His person was pretty good; strait, stout, and middle-sized, with a good, fair, Irish allowance of leg. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- The candle cannot be seen unless the three pinholes are in a strait line. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I have good reason to know that she is in some strait, arising out of some attachment; and she needs womanly counsel. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Bering Strait, when this came into existence, before or after the Pluvial Period, isolated the Amer-Indians. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The allusion served as a timely reminder to Darnay that this disagreeable companion had, of his own free will, assisted him in the strait of the day. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- The width of the strait is divided by these towers into four spans--two of 460 feet each, and two of 230 feet. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The Menai tubular railway bridge, adjacent to the suspension bridge of Telford across the same strait, and already described, was the first example of this type of bridge. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The large, strait, gauze sleeve did not at all conceal the symmetry of her beautiful arm. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Seeing him, I felt that I was in a dangerous strait indeed, and I kept my eyes upon him. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- To this day France is cramped by this early nineteenth-century strait-waistcoat into which he clapped her. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- That bridge, though of different material, was in its principle of construction similar to the iron tubular bridges at Conway and at the Menai Straits. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Permission could not be obtained to interfere with the navigation of the Straits in the slightest degree during the building, and so piers and arches could not be used. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- I had paid for all the experiments on the quadruplex and exhausted the money, and I was again in straits. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Robert designed the tubular bridge across the Menai Straits on this line, which was considered a most remarkable feat. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- No tear dropped over that pillow; in such straits as these, the heart has no tears to give,--it drops only blood, bleeding itself away in silence. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- And, woman, though dressed in silk and jewels, you are but a woman, and, in life's great straits and mighty griefs, ye feel but one sorrow! Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- And into the straits of Royd Lane they accordingly defiled. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I then left my station, and ran to the entrance of the works, where I got into a boat, and bade the men pull out as far as they could into the middle of the Straits. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- The Russian Baltic Fleet sailed round Africa to be utterly destroyed in the Straits of Tshu-shima. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I told him Mr. Orton had gone off and left me without means, and I was in straits. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- She started up and bounded towards him in an instant: he was evidently in great straits for breath. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Sound is conveyed through these cavities as readily as through speaking tubes, and conversation can be thus easily carried on across the Straits. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Then there came to Terkoz's rescue the same thing that had put him in these sore straits--a man's reasoning power. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- Sicily fell completely to Carthage, and Rome came down to the toe and heel of Italy, and looked across the Straits of Messina at her new rival. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The Britannia Bridge, across the Menai Straits, was a triumphant response to the call for a new kind of suspended roadway adapted to the requirements of railways. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
Checked by Aron