narrow

UK: /ˈnærəʊ/ US: /ˈnæroʊ/ ,(nar′ō)

Inflections of 'narrow' (adj):

narrower

adj comparative

narrowest

adj superlative

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

nar•row /ˈnæroʊ/   adj., -er, -est, v. 
adj. 

1. of little width;
   not wide or broad:
   a narrow alley.
2. limited in range or scope:
   a narrow view of right and wrong.
3. barely adequate or successful;
   close:
   [before a noun] a narrow escape.

v. 

4. to (cause to) decrease in width: [no object]
   The road narrows ahead.
   [~ + object]
   She narrowed her eyes.
5. to (cause to) be reduced or smaller: [no object]
   The gap between the rich and the poor is not narrowing.
   [~ + object]
   to narrow the gap between them.
6. to limit or restrict: [~ + down + object]
   The detectives narrowed down the search to just two suspects.
   [~ + object (+ down)]
   They narrowed the search (down) to just two suspects.

n. [countable]

7. narrows, [used with a singular or plural verb] a narrow part of a river, ocean current, etc.

nar•row•ness, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

nar•row  (nar′ō), adj., -er, -est, v., n. 
adj. 

1. of little breadth or width;
   not broad or wide;
   not as wide as usual or expected:
   a narrow path.
2. limited in extent or space;
   affording little room:
   narrow quarters.
3. limited in range or scope:
   a narrow sampling of public opinion.
4. lacking breadth of view or sympathy, as persons, the mind, or ideas:
   a narrow man, knowing only his professional specialty; a narrow mind.
5. with little margin to spare;
   barely adequate or successful;
   close:
   a narrow escape.
6. careful, thorough, or minute, as a scrutiny, search, or inquiry.
7. limited in amount;
   small;
   meager:
   narrow resources.
8. straitened;
   impoverished:
   narrow circumstances.
9. Dialect Terms [New Eng.] stingy or parsimonious.
10. Phonetics
    • (of a vowel) articulated with the tongue laterally constricted, as the ee of beet, the oo of boot, etc.;
      tense. Cf. lax (def. 7).
    • (of a phonetic transcription) utilizing a unique symbol for each phoneme and whatever supplementary diacritics are needed to indicate its subphonemic varieties. Cf. broad (def. 14).
11. Animal Husbandry (of livestock feeds) proportionately rich in protein.

v.i. 

12. to decrease in width or breadth:
    This is where the road narrows.

v.t. 

13. to make narrower.
14. to limit or restrict (often fol. by down):
    to narrow an area of search; to narrow down a contest to three competitors.
15. to make narrow-minded:
    Living in that village has narrowed him.

n. 

16. a narrow part, place, or thing.
17. a narrow part of a valley, passage, or road.
18. narrows, (used with a sing. or pl. v.) a narrow part of a strait, river, ocean current, etc.
19. Place Names The Narrows, a narrow strait from upper to lower New York Bay, between Staten Island and Long Island. 2 mi. (3.2 km) long;
    1 mi. (1.6 km) wide.

• bef. 900; Middle English; Old English nearu; cognate with Old Saxon naru narrow, Dutch naar unpleasant; akin to German Narbe scar, literally, narrow mark

nar′row•ly, adv. 
nar′row•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 4. biased, limited, shallow, small-minded.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

narrow / ˈnærəʊ/ adjective

1. small in breadth, esp in comparison to length
2. limited in range or extent
3. limited in outlook; lacking breadth of vision
4. limited in means or resources; meagre
5. barely adequate or successful (esp in the phrase a narrow escape)
6. painstakingly thorough; minute: a narrow scrutiny
7. denoting an assessment of liquidity as including notes and coin in circulation with the public, banks' till money, and banks' balances: narrow money
   Compare broad14
8. another word for tense14
9. another word for close121

verb

1. to make or become narrow; limit; restrict

noun

1. a narrow place, esp a pass or strait

Etymology: Old English nearu; related to Old Saxon naru

ˈnarrowly adverb

ˈnarrowness noun