nar·row

(năr′ō)

adj. nar·row·er, nar·row·est

1. Of small or limited width, especially in comparison with length.

2. Limited in area or scope; cramped.

3. Lacking flexibility; rigid: narrow opinions.

4. Barely sufficient; close: a narrow margin of victory.

5. Painstakingly thorough or attentive; meticulous: narrow scrutiny.

6. Linguistics Tense.

v. nar·rowed, nar·row·ing, nar·rows

v.tr.

1. To reduce in width or extent; make narrower.

2. To limit or restrict: narrowed the possibilities down to three.

v.intr.

To become narrower; contract.

1. A part of little width, as a pass through mountains.

2. narrows(used with a sing. or pl. verb)

a. A body of water with little width that connects two larger bodies of water.

b. A part of a river or an ocean current that is not wide.

[Middle English narwe, from Old English nearu.]

nar′row·ish adj.

nar′row·ly adv.

nar′row·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adv.

narrowly - in a narrow manner; not allowing for exceptions; "he interprets the law narrowly"

broadly, broadly speaking, generally, loosely - without regard to specific details or exceptions; "he interprets the law broadly"

narrowly

adverb

1. just, barely, only just, scarcely, by the narrowest of margins, by the skin of your teeth, by a whisker or hair's-breadth Five firemen narrowly escaped death.

2. closely, keenly, carefully, intently, intensely, fixedly, searchingly He frowned and looked narrowly at his colleague.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

بشيءٍ قليل، بِشَق النَّفْس

o chloupektěsně

knebenmed nød og næppe

eng

por poco

de justesse étroitement justement précisément

naumlega

a malapena

knepent

o chlp

darı darınakıl payı

勉强地狭窄地

narrowly

[ˈnærəʊlɪ] ADV

1. (= just) [escape, avoid, miss, fail] → por poco; [defeat] → por un escaso margen
to be narrowly defeated (in election) → ser derrotado por un escaso margen (Sport) → perder por poco

2. (= restrictively) [define] → de forma restringida
to be narrowly based [organization] → tener una base limitada
these exams are too narrowly vocational → estos exámenes tienen un enfoque demasiado vocacional

3. (= closely) [watch] → de cerca; [observe] → atentamente

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

narrowly

[ˈnærəʊli] adv

[miss] → de justesse
He narrowly missed the tree → Il a évité l'arbre de justesse.
BUT Il a failli rentrer dans l'arbre.
The taxi driver swerved, narrowly missing a bus → Le chauffeur de taxi fit un écart, évitant de justesse un bus.
Adams only narrowly escaped with his life → Adams ne s'en est sorti que de justesse.
He narrowly missed injury
BUT Il a failli se blesser.
He only narrowly missed the target
BUT Il n'a manqué la cible que de peu.
to narrowly miss doing sth → avoir failli faire qch
He narrowly avoided going to jail → Il a failli aller en prison.
She narrowly missed being injured when the chimney was blown down → Elle a failli être blessée lorsque le vent a soufflé la cheminée.
She narrowly missed becoming the first woman president → Elle a failli devenir la première femme président.narrow-minded [ˌnærəʊˈmaɪndɪd] adj [people] → à l'esprit étroit, borné(e)
to be narrow-minded → être borné(e)
He's very narrow-minded when it comes to that sort of thing → Il est très borné lorsqu'il s'agit de ce genre de choses.
That's a very narrow-minded attitude
BUT C'est une attitude qui dénote beaucoup d'étroitesse d'esprit.narrow-mindedness [ˈnærəʊˈmaɪndɪdnɪs] n → étroitesse f d'esprit

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

narrowly

adv

(= by a small margin) defeat, fail, avoid → knapp; escape → mit knapper Not; he narrowly escaped being knocked down → er wäre um ein Haar or beinahe überfahren worden; you narrowly missed (seeing) him → du hast ihn gerade verpasst

interpret, define, focus → eng; examine → peinlich genau; watch → genau, scharf; to be narrowly based → eine schmale Basis haben; to focus too narrowly on something → sich zu sehr auf etw (acc) → beschränken; she looks at things/life much too narrowly → sie sieht die Dinge/das Leben viel zu eng

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

narrowly

[ˈnærəʊlɪ] adv

a. (miss, escape) Maria narrowly escaped drowning → per un pelo Maria non è affogata
he narrowly missed hitting the cyclist → per poco non ha investito il ciclista

b. (interpret, rules) → rigorosamente

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

narrow

(ˈnӕrəu) adjective

1. having or being only a small distance from side to side. a narrow road; The bridge is too narrow for large lorries to cross.

2. only just managed. a narrow escape.

3. (of ideas, interests or experience) not extensive enough.

verb

to make or become narrow. The road suddenly narrowed.

ˈnarrowly adverb

closely; only just. The ball narrowly missed his head.

ˈnarrows noun plural

a narrow sea-passage; a channel or strait.

ˌnarrow-ˈminded adjective

unwilling to accept ideas different from one's own.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Approaching the shopkeeper, who had been narrowly observing him as he read the placard, he was about to speak, when the shopkeeper called to a salesman:

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A MONKEY perched upon a lofty tree saw some Fishermen casting their nets into a river, and narrowly watched their proceedings.

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For the actions of a new prince are more narrowly observed than those of an hereditary one, and when they are seen to be able they gain more men and bind far tighter than ancient blood; because men are attracted more by the present than by the past, and when they find the present good they enjoy it and seek no further; they will also make the utmost defence of a prince if he fails them not in other things.

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The physician laughed at his own pleasantry, but narrowly watched his patient from the corner of his eye.

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I looked at him narrowly. His frenzy of the previous day had all calmed down.

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I began now to be very wary, having so narrowly escaped a scouring, and having such an example before me; but I had a new tempter, who prompted me every day--I mean my governess; and now a prize presented, which as it came by her management, so she expected a good share of the booty.

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The author embarks with the patriarch, narrowly escapes shipwreck near the isle of Socotora; enters the Arabian Gulf, and the Red Sea.

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For I have already told the reader how much I was pestered by these odious animals, upon my first arrival; and I afterwards failed very narrowly, three or four times, of falling into their clutches, when I happened to stray at any distance without my hanger.

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We will dress it by the highway side, and watch for the Bishop narrowly, lest he should ride some other way."

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They were ever chatting, discussing, and calculating the various chances of a meeting, watching narrowly the vast surface of the ocean.

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Gardiner, rendered suspicious by Elizabeth's warm commendation, narrowly observed them both.

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No one seems to know or to care what my nationality is, and I am treated, on the contrary, with the civility which is the portion of every traveller who pays the bill without scanning the items too narrowly. This, I confess, has been something of a surprise to me, and I have not yet made up my mind as to the fundamental cause of the anomaly.

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