straitadj.n.adv.
/streɪt/, U.S. /streɪt/ A. adj.
I. In physical senses: Tight, narrow.† 4. † b. Of cloth, ribbon, etc.: Narrow. Obsolete.
1. † b. Of bonds, a knot: Tightly drawn. Obsolete.figurative.1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie i. 3 He is..our Father and hath adopted us to be his Children, and moreouer tied us to him by a much streiter Band: in that he hath redeemed us.1595 E. Spenser Amoretti lxxi, in Amoretti & Epithalamion sig. E5 Right so your selfe were caught in cunning snare Of a deare foe,..In whose streight bands ye now captiued are.1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxxxv. sig. Z3 So they [sc. hearts] cloze againe after discussion, many times in a straighter Tye.† c. Of an embrace: close. Obsolete.† d. Tense, not lax. Obsolete.† e. Of the chest: Constricted, ‘tight’. Of the breath: Difficult, ‘short’. Obsolete.
a. Of a garment, etc.: Tight-fitting, narrow. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > that fits in specific way > close-fitting
straita1387
justc1440
sitting1440
close1488
well-fitted1590
close-bodied1677
succinct1714
tightish1775
tight1784
full-fashioned1812
skintight1838
snug1838
fully-fashioned1844
tight-fitting1846
close-fitting1870
slim1884
skin-fitting1915
skinny1915
slinky1921
tight-ass1969
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 353 Þey..haueþ..straiȝt hodes [L. capuciis strictis].
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) v. xxix. 140 A rynge that is streyghte on a fyngre and may not be take of afore mete, maye easely be take of after mete.
c1400 Rom. Rose 2271 Streite gloves.
1459 Paston Lett. I. 475 j. nothir gowne of clothe of golde, with streyght slevys.
1551 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 58 A Iyrkyn for the Tumbler strayte to his bodye.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Yy1v For he mought see that a streight gloue wil come more easily on with vse. View more context for this quotation
1607 N. Breton Wits Private Wealth C1v And strait shooes fill the feete full of cornes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iii. vii. 53 You rode like a Kerne of Ireland, your French Hose off, and in your strait Strossers. View more context for this quotation
1658 W. Johnson tr. F. Würtz Surgeons Guid iii. x. 246 Bind the wound slackly, and let the party not put on too straight clothes.
1693 J. Locke Some Thoughts conc. Educ. §11 That your Sons Cloths be never made strait.
1713 T. Tickell in Guardian 17 Apr. 2/1 The Third..appeared in Cloaths that were so strait and uneasie to him, that he seemed to move with Pain.
1767 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy IX. ii. 10 His blue and gold had become so miserably too strait for him.
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea ii. xiv. 330 The men go generally in white waistcoats,..with white breeches, sometimes strait, sometimes wide.
1888 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield Stret, tight, too small. ‘Her dress were that stret at shoo couldn't stride o'er t' brook.’
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > [adjective] > of knots or bands
fastOE
strait1561
strict1593
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer ii. sig. P.iii I allowe well that this knott, which is so streicte, knitt or binde no mo than two.
1569 Reg. Privy Council Scotl. II. 62 [He] sall incontinent..be put in strait irnis.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxiv. vii. 513 [He] lift up his foot, making as though he would loose and slacke a streight knot of his sho latchet.
1656 J. Smith Compl. Pract. Physick 163 If the parts swell hard, it [the bandage] is too straight; if it swell not, it is too loose.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Snakes By a streight Ligature below the Wound.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > embrace > [adjective] > (of an embrace) close
vinya1586
strait1596
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. viii. sig. H7v She to him ran, and him with streight embras Enfolding said, and liues yet Amyas? View more context for this quotation
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [adjective] > taut
stiffc1386
unrelaxed1508
taut1567
tight1576
strait1578
strict1578
starka1642
tense1671
stith1825
strict1860
stent1886
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 19 And yet the Articulation [of the vertebræ] not left to strayte, but slacke inough..for the turnyng of the head on eche side.
1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 277 All those who have lax Fibres and Vessels are naturally cooler than those that have strait.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [adjective] > of breath: short
shorta1400
strait1561
1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 6 Then becommeth a man strayght about the cheste or stomake, & his heat is dry.
1695 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 19 80 Her Breath was streight, as is usual to fat People, especially when she went up a pair of Stairs.
2. figurative.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 54 Þo þet libbeþ be fisike: hy healdeþ þe mesure of ypocras þet is lite an strait.1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect To Rdr. sig. A3 Any thing stranger than ordinary, is too large for the straite hoopes of his apprehension.1668 J. Dryden Of Dramatick Poesie 19 But in how straight a compass soever they have bounded their Plots and Characters, we will pass it by, if they have regularly pursued them.1787 Smith's Printer's Gram. (new ed.) 21 It is therefore to be wished that the intermixing Roman and Italic may be brought to straighter limits.1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. iii. 35 One may..have reached in some single department..the furthest limits of his predecessors' knowledge, and found them too strait for him.
a. Scanty or inadequate in spatial capacity; affording little room; narrow. Of bounds, limits: Narrow. Now rare except in too strait.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [adjective] > confined, restricted, or insufficiently spacious
narroweOE
straitc1290
unwidea1400
scanta1533
angust1540
roomless1548
pinched?1567
niggard1595
strict1598
straitened1602
pinching1607
incommodious1615
incapacious1635
over-strait1645
straiteninga1652
cramp1786
bottleneck1854
cramped1884
tight1937
claustrophobic1946
claustrophobe1954
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > of small or scanty extent
narroweOE
straitc1290
scarce1297
scanta1533
pinched?1567
strict1598
thrifty1601
straitened1602
scanty1701
scrimped?c1716
pookit1818
poky1828
postage-stamp-sized1852
poking1864
boxy1870
pocket handkerchief1910
postage stamp1937
c1290 St. Brendan 255 in S. Eng. Leg. 226 A luytel hauene and swyþe streit huy founden atþe laste. Þat vnneþes heore schip miȝte þerinne come, Aunker for to caste.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1868) iii. met. ii. 68 Brid þat syngiþ..in þe wode and after is inclosed in a streit cage.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 202 Myn hous is streyt.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 18076 By large mesure I can byen, and streight mesure I sell ageyn.
c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 762 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 172 He sa sted wes..þat he mycht nothire syt no ly; sa strate to hyme wes þat herbry.
1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. qq.ii Where as somtyme we were spredde almoost thorugh the worlde, now we be thrast downe in to a very streyght augyll or corner.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward V f. vjv The kynge was goynge to horsebacke, because he would leaue the lodgyng for them, for it was to straight for bothe the compaignies.
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 4 Portugall was then obscure, vntilled, poore, and reduced into streight limits.
a1659 R. Brownrig 65 Serm. (1674) I. vii. 101 The Sun is made for the World, not for any streighter Region.
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 332 Within the streight Bounds of that small Vessel.
1724 Bp. T. Wilson in J. Keble Life T. Wilson: Pt. II (1863) ii. 625 Because of a very numerous family..for which the vicarage-house was too strait.
1797 Encycl. Brit. II. 490/2 Where the space is straitest, the earth moves more slowly than where it is widest.
1839 E. B. Browning Sabbath Morning ix Too strait ye are, capacious seas, To satisfy the loving!
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar v. 41 The hunting and pasture grounds were too strait for the numbers crowded into them.
b. Of a place of confinement. literal and figurative. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [adjective] > of or relating to place of confinement > difficult to escape from
strong?a1300
straitc1460
c1460 R. Roos tr. La Belle Dame sans Mercy 563 in Polit. Relig. & Love Poems (1903) 101 It is grete dures and discomfort To kepe an hert in so streyt a presoun, Þat hathe but on body for his disport.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 177/1 Saynt Peter was enprysoned in a strayte place wherin he was strayned.
1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. N2v To the straightest prison in Rome he was dragged.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. v. iii. §5. 436 All such Prisoners as he had of the Romans, he held in streight places, loden with yrons.
3.
a. Of a way, passage, or channel: So narrow as to make transit difficult. Now rare in lit. sense.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, passage, or means of access to a place > [adjective] > difficult of access
strait13..
13.. K. Alis. 6114 Theo wayes weore so strayte, and fyle, That mon no hors, by twenty myle, No myghte come the toun nigh.
138. J. Wyclif Serm. in Sel. Wks. I. 14 Þe nett is brood in þe bigynnyng, and after streit in ende.
c1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 33 Þe mouþe of þe vlcere was ouer streit.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Siege & Conqueste Jerusalem (1893) xviii. 47 Certayne..strayt entrees that ben as yates of the londe.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) vi. 362 His vit hym schawit the strat entre Of the furde, and the ysche alsua.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxv To open the strayte passages in the Alpes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. v. 11 The strait passe was damm'd With dead men. View more context for this quotation
1619 M. Drayton Barons Warres v. xli, in Poems (rev. ed.) 71 Where, through strait Windows, the dull Light came farre.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 81 When thro' streight Passages they strein their Wine. View more context for this quotation
1768 G. White Let. 12 Mar. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 41 The owners slit up the nostrils of such asses as were hard worked: for they, being naturally strait or small, did not admit air sufficient.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. xii. 313 If the stairs be too strait to admit his fat carcass, I will have him craned up from without.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 354 That road was so steep and so strait that a handful of resolute men might have defended it against an army.
b. figurative and in figurative context. Now archaic after Bible use, esp. as strait and narrow (elliptical), a conventional, limited procedure or way of life; cf. straight and narrow at straight adj. 3a(b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [noun] > a convention > a conventional thing, practice, or way of life
conventionalism1833
conventionalitya1834
strait and narrow1953
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xvi. 6 Gif grace þat þe charite of my lufers be perfit in þe strayt stretis of þi counsails.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. vii. 13 Entre ȝe bi the streyt ȝate.
a1555 J. Bradford in M. Coverdale Certain Lett. Martyrs (1564) 296 The way of Christe is the strayte waye.
1600 J. Bodenham Bel-vedére 228 No wise man likes in such a life to dwell, Whose wayes are strait to heauen, but wide to hell.
1681 in J. Dryden Spanish Fryar Epil. There is no Dives in the Roman Hell. Gold opens the strait gate, and lets him in.
1720 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. Pref. 14 Such who finding the strait way too narrow for them, left it.
1836 J. Gilbert Christian Atonem. ii. 54 The way to life is strait.
1953 S. Kauffmann Philanderer xv. 247 Not that I wandered from the respectable bourgeois strait-and-narrow.
1979 Listener 1 Mar. 322/2 She seems to feel it is rather daring of her to be the great defender of Arnold Bennett's reputation—and I felt she might have risked one or two dashes off the strait and narrow.
a. Having little breadth or width; narrow. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > lack of breadth or narrowness > [adjective]
nareeOE
narrowOE
smallOE
straitc1400
near1493
unthick1587
pinching1607
widthless1813
shoestring1878
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §22. 14 A label..schapen lik a rewle, saue þat it is streit & hath no plates on either ende.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) v. 45 Egypt is a long Contree; but it is streyt, that is to seye narow.
1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. c ii b Ther is an oder cros aquall straythyr in the myddis then in thenddys.
a1527 R. Thorne in R. Hakluyt Divers Voy. (1582) sig. C2 A certaine straite sea called Estrecho de todos Sanctos.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [adjective] > other
strait1439
flocked1607
high warp1728
shot1763
wattled1865
double-face1873
starey1884
loopy1902
wrung1902
multi-ply1926
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > ornamental textiles > ornamental trimmings > [adjective] > ribbon
strait1439
1439 Rolls of Parl. V. 30/1 Unreasonable mesure, both of brode clothe and streite.
1480 Wardrobe Accts. Edward IV in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 136 Riban off silk: streyte xj unces di'; brode ix yerdes.
1503 in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 104 Item payed to Cristofre Ascue for v yerdes of Streyt white by him delivered.
II. Strict, rigorous.† 5. † b. Of modes of living, diet, etc.: Involving hardship or privation; severely regulated. Obsolete.† c. Of a religious order, its rules, etc., also of a sect: Rigorous, strict. Obsolete.
a. Of conditions, sufferings, punishment, etc.: Pressing hardly, severe, rigorous. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [adjective]
heavyc825
grimc900
strongeOE
hardeOE
drearyOE
eileOE
sweerOE
deara1000
bitterOE
tartc1000
smartOE
unridec1175
sharp?c1225
straitc1275
grievousc1290
fellc1330
shrewda1387
snella1400
unsterna1400
vilea1400
importunea1425
ungainc1425
thrallc1430
peisant1483
sore?a1513
weighty1540
heinous?1541
urgent?1542
asperous?1567
dure1567
spiny1586
searching1590
hoara1600
vengible1601
flinty1613
tugging1642
atrocious1733
uncannya1774
severe1774
stern1830
punishing1833
hefty1867
solid1916
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11113 He wolde westen his lond and..mid fure mid stele streit gomen wurchen.
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 4736 [The day of dome] es þe mast day þat ever was yhitte, And þe straytest and þe mast harde.
c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 90 But here ys no stede to shewe of so hard and streyt science.
c1421 J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep 392 in Polit. Relig. & Love Poems (1903) 31 At a streight neede thei can weel staunche blood.
1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII c. 20 Preamble The said John Tailer..and many other felons, [etc.]..dwellyd in a strayte and parlous Countrey for your sayd Besecher or any other your true subgettes without great jopertie of theire lyves to take and arrest theym.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 80 Yf we coud devyse a punnyschment more strayttur then deth hyt were necessary to be ordenyd.
a1540 R. Barnes Wks. (1573) 202 If there were a generall Councell,..there must needes folow, both ouer him & you a streight reformation.
1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Diiv For god wyl punishe in straite wyse Suche as with him wyl be so bolde.
1550 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) II. 239 We delight more in Clemency than the streit administration of Justice.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. v. sig. Q4v Bound vnto me, but not with such hard bands Of strong compulsion, and streight violence, As now in miserable state he stands. View more context for this quotation
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 30 When he [God] hath them upon the hip by any deepe and straight sore and extremity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > [adjective]
poorc1300
straitc1300
porail1514
needy1574
necessitous1608
down at heel1856
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > asceticism > [adjective] > of way of life
straitc1300
sharp1340
severe1828
c1300 St. Brandan (Percy Soc.) 35 There he was abbot of an hous.., and there he ladde a full strayte and holy lyfe.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 473 What ever þou haldes to þe of þo auter, over a streyte lyvelode ande symple cloþing, hit is not þine.
c1450 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi iii. xi. 79 Þei shull gete liberte of mynde [þat] entriþ into streiȝt lif.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 42 If this seeme to straight a dyet for thy straininge disease, or to holy a profession, for so hollow a person.
1582 J. Hester tr. L. Fioravanti Compend. Rationall Secretes i. xxiii. 26 Neither let them keepe any straight Diette.
1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. O4 To such straight life did it thence forward incite me, that..I married my curtizane,..and hasted..out of the Sodom of Italy.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 379 [He] led a streight life in continencie and austerity.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 426 They..in their Monasteries, are very abstinent in eating and drinking, containe their bodies in strait chastitie, [etc.].
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > religion > kinds of religions > [adjective] > strict
straitc1405
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [adjective] > in accordance with a rule > strict
straitc1405
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 174 The rule of Seint Maure or of Seint Beneyt By cause þt it was oold and som deel streyt.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 178 Þe chanoun, after, schroof hym to þe bysschop of þat synne, & entryd in-to a streytere relygyoun.
c1490 W. Caxton Rule St. Benet 119 Þat they maye..execute the hole rewll and the better kepe it than it is accordyng to the abyte & their streyte professyon.
1577 T. Vautrollier tr. M. Luther Comm. Epist. to Galathians (new ed.) (v. 19) f. 270v The Carthusians or Charterhouse monks, whose order..is of all other the straitest and sharpest.
1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue f. 50 There is a confession in the Family of H. N. more streight than euer was in the tyme of Popery.
6. † a. Of a person, an agent: Severe, stern, strict, exacting in actions or dealings. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [adjective] > specifically of persons
strait1297
iron-handed1608
strict1614
Presbyteriana1653
taut1825
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 5406 So streit he was þat þei me leyde amidde weyes heye, Seluer þat nomon ne dorste hit nyme vor beye hor eye.
c1440 Alphabet of Tales 11 Hur susters þe nonnys purseyvid, & was passand fayn þerof, becauce sho wa[s] so strayte vnto þaim, at þai myght have a cauce to accuse hur in.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 45 If þei haue streit conscience to faile in þis þat hemself haþ bound him to, þei schuld haue mikil more to faile in þis þat Crist haþ bound hem to.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Luke xix. f. cviij I feared the, because thou arte a strayte man: thou takest vp that thou laydest nott doune.
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Jude f. xxiiv That whiche Pharao that straight and intolerable lorde was vnto them, the deuil was the same vnto vs.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. ix. xvi. 324 He was a man besides for seueritie streight, and of right great command..ouer his allies and confederates.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus i. 7 Such infirmities the Lord will not be so straite in.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) i. i. 98 Fiue Talents is his debt, His meanes most short, his Creditors most straite . View more context for this quotation
b. Rigorous in principles; strict or scrupulous in morality or religious observance. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [adjective] > conforming to high moral standards
strait1526
Roman1577
strict1586
tight-laced1741
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Acts xxvi. 5 For after the most straytest [Gk. ἀκριβεστάτην] secte of oure laye lived I a pharisaye.
?1577 J. Northbrooke Spiritus est Vicarius Christi: Treat. Dicing 29 Although they do, yet for my parte I will not bee so straite or scrupulous.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. i. 9 Let but your honour know (Whom I beleeue to be most strait in vertue) That [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1777 J. Priestley Matter & Spirit Ded. Educated, as you know I was, in the very straitest principles of reputed orthodoxy.
1875 J. R. Lowell Spenser in Writ. (1890) IV. 314 There is a verse,..‘Like that ungracious crew which feigns demurest grace,’ which is supposed to glance at the straiter religionists.
1890 Spectator 12 July He never lost the confidence even of the most strait of his fellow-Churchmen, while the more advanced felt that they had his fullest sympathy.
7. † b. Of a legal instrument: Stringently worded, peremptory. Obsolete.
a. Of a commandment, law, penalty, vow: Stringent, strict, allowing no evasion. Obsolete exc. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [adjective] > strict or severe (of rules, judgement, or discipline)
strongeOE
starkc1175
sharpa1340
strait1390
unrelaxed1508
exacta1538
severe1562
strict1578
weightya1616
stringent1846
ramrod1850
medieval1917
tough1961
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 211 For that a man scholde al unthryve Ther oghte no wisman coveite, The lawe was noght set so streite.
a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS liv. 193 A strayt couenaunt I-mad þer was Bi-twene me and Sathanos.
c1480 (a1400) St. Christopher 621 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 358 He..commawndment gef strat þar-to.
1485–6 Coventry Leet Bk. 527 The oth & charge of the Recorder, which in diuers thynges me thinketh full streyte.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxviii. 4 Thou hast geuen strayte charge to kepe thy commaundementes.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxviijv The Duke of Wirtemburg hath accorded vpon moste straite conditions.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. iii. 81 And now forsooth takes on him to reforme..some streight decrees, That lie too heauie on the Common-wealth. View more context for this quotation
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus i. 6 His..strait charge to all posteritie, that one man should cleaue to one wife.
1630 R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Princesse Elizabeth i. 16 The Queene set forth a straight Proclamation, that they should not handle any such questions.
1870 Ld. Tennyson Coming of Arthur 261 Then the King..Bound them by so strait vows to his own self, That [etc.].
ΘΚΠ
society > law > [adjective] > various epithets applied to laws
vagabondc1485
strait1503
strict1578
unrelaxable1615
sanguinary1625
standard1660
formal1701
supplementary1714
eludible1735
organic1831
antinomic1849
loopy1856
antinomical1877
contravenable1880
violable1885
nexal1886
entrenched1920
hard1935
1503 in D. Forbes & C. Innes Acct. Familie Innes (1864) 91 Sesing and letters of assedatioun in the stratest forme can be devisit be the said Robert.
1565–6 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 417 Quhairunto we obleis us as said is in the stratest forme and sickir style of obligatioun that can be divisit.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. x. 481 Hee..obtained a strait warrant to command the Gouernour..to deliuer mee ouer in the English hands.
8. † a. Of actions, proceedings: Conducted with strictness. Obsolete.† c. Of a siege: Close. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [adjective]
cruelc1230
straitc1430
closea1466
district1526
hard1577
obstrictc1600
strict1603
restricta1617
uninclining1794
tight1872
headmistressy1972
c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 240 But Jhesu be my staff and my potent, Ovir streyt audit is lik t'encoumbre me.
c1440 Alphabet of Tales 355 Hafe compassion on hym, at ye make hym no lettyng when he commys afor þe strayte iugement of almyghtie God.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xxxii. 108 There þei dede rede þe myracles and discussed hem with grete diligens and streyt examination.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 277/1 Strayte dealyng, rigeur.
1541 T. Elyot Image of Gouernance v. f. 10v He was exhorted to aduaunce his astate..in princely porte,..leauinge his affabilitie and strayte obseruation of his lawes.
1586 Privy Council Let. in Maldon (Essex) Borough Deeds (Bundle 149, No. 12) Your owne example in the straite kepinge of these orders..will greatlie further the observinge of the same amonge the meaner sort.
1599 Warning for Faire Women ii. 895 Strait inquisition and search is made.
b. Of guard, watch, imprisonment: Rigorous, strict. Cf. A. 2b. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [adjective] > strict (of confinement)
strait1423
strict1667
1423 Kingis Quair 25 In strayte ward and in strong prisoun.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1872) IV. 341 Seynte Iohn Baptiste was heded after that he hade bene in streyte kepynge or in prison in this yere.
a1555 N. Ridley in M. Coverdale Certain Lett. Martyrs (1564) 61 We are..separated..and much straite watching of the baylifes is about vs that there be no priuy conference amongest vs.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre v. vi. 238 He had a strait watch set upon them.
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 6 Yea though she be well instructed, yet is she still under a more strait tuition.
1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 21 Nov. (1965) I. 283 She endures all the terrors of a strait imprisonment.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. iv. iii. 248 Back to thy Arrestment, poor Brissot; or indeed to strait confinement.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > [adjective] > of a siege: close
strait1598
1598 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. (new ed.) f. 27 Thy brest..That may be batter'd, or be vndermin'd, Or by strayte siege, for want of succour pin'd.
1647 T. May Hist. Parl. iii. vi. 101 Gloucester was thus beseiged, and the seige so straight, that no intelligence could possibly arrive at it.
1657 J. Trapp Comm. Job v. 20 [God delivered] the Rochellers by a miraculous shoale of shel-fish, cast up into their town in a strait seige.
III. Limited in scope, degree, or amount.† 9. Scanty, poor in degree. Obsolete.† 12. Strictly specified, exact, precise, definite; esp. of an account, exactly rendered. Obsolete.† 14.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [adjective] > limited in quantity or amount > scanty or meagre
feeblec1275
straita1300
thinc1374
threadbarec1412
exile?1440
silly?a1500
pilled1526
thinnish1540
carrion-lean1542
carrion1565
exiled?1577
penurious1594
unnourishing1605
starveling1611
meagre1612
short-handed1622
lanka1644
scrimp1681
strigose1708
skimp1775
skimping1775
spare1813
shy1821
scrimping1823
skimpy1842
slim1852
scrappy1985
minnowy1991
a1300 Cursor Mundi 24745 Þof mans wijt be neuer sa strait, Sco mai well bring it vnto nait.
10. † a. Of fortune, means, circumstances: Limited so as to cause hardship or inconvenience; inadequate. Obsolete. Cf. straitened adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [adjective] > limited in quantity or amount
narrowOE
poor?c1225
scarce1297
straitc1386
feeblea1513
scant1556
niggardly1564
slender1564
limited1590
scanted1594
sparing1602
scantled1604
stinted1629
exiguous1630
unlavished1635
scanty1658
unprofuse1727
costivea1734
incopious1734
niggard1751
jimp1768
skimped1839
stingy1854
restricted1856
niggard-measured1881
c1386 G. Chaucer Friar's Tale 128 My wages been ful streite and ful smale.
c1450 (c1400) Sowdon of Babylon (1881) l. 2533 Therefore sende we to Charles,..And certyfye him of oure strayȝte beinge.
a1617 P. Baynes Comm. Ephes. (1658) 25 A great Heir is often held to strait allowance.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 48 If he had not..been too much griev'd, and wrung by an uneasy and streight Fortune; he would have been an excellent man of business.
1707 J. Logan in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1872) X. 197 Money is hard to be got out of the Treasury these strait times.
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature ix. 181 I am not of opinion..that virtue and prudence can always..mend a strait fortune.
1741 ‘T. Betterton’ Mem. Mrs. Anne Oldfield 1 Mrs. Oldfield being left in strait Circumstances, She and Daughter lived for some time with her Sister.
1780 A. Nash in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) III. 108 They were very soon reduced to strait allowance.
b. Of a person: In want of, straitened for. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > non-possession > [adjective] > devoid of something > lacking or without > ill-provided with something
barec1220
leana1340
needya1425
matterless1483
deficious1541
scarce of?1541
scanta1595
deficienta1616
strait1662
short of1697
shy1895
low on1904
short on1922
light1936
1662 J. Strype in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men (1843) (Camden) 178 If you are not too straight of money, send me some.
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 184 Stret..(3) In want of; as ‘He's gey stret o' siller.’
1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) at Stret ‘As we're so stret for speakers to-dee,’ was the commencement of an oration at an agricultural dinner.
11. Of words: Limited in application or signification. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > meaning or signification > [adjective] > restricted or limited
straitc1380
specifical1778
strict1842
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 415 And, for hit were to streyte to lordship of Crist to be a special lord of Jude or Jerusalem, þerfore he bad þat þei schulde calle him Lorde.
1480 Coventry Leet Bk. 456 The seid Maire & his Brethern seyn that the wordes in the seid Tripartite be not so speciall & streyt as the seid prior taketh hem.
1557 B. Traheron Expos. S. Iohannes Gospel sig. Fvi The worlde in this place signifieth al men. For it can not be taken in a straiter sense.
1654 Z. Coke Art of Logick 78 When a word is larger or straighter then the thing meant thereby, let another word, if it may be had, be put in the room.
1901 J. Prior Forest Folk iii. 36 ‘I never—that is hardly ever—quarrel about anything.’ ‘That “hardly ever's” a bit stret for what's in't.’
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > [adjective] > of statement: agreeing with reality
soothlyc888
soothfastc950
truea1250
very1303
strait1340
honesta1400
soothfulc1400
precisec1443
veritable1474
just1490
perfect1523
faithful1529
sincere1555
unmangled1557
truthful?1567
neat1571
oraculous1612
punctual1620
oracular1631
unvamped1639
strict1645
unembroidered1649
ungarbled1721
unexaggerated1770
veracious1777
unfictitious1835
unexaggeratinga1854
uncooked1860
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience v. 5644 For men sal þan strayte acount yhelde Of alle þair tyme.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 78v Wee shall all bee cyted before the Tribunall seate of God to render a straight accompt of our stewardshyp.
a1617 S. Hieron Penance for Sinne in Wks. (1620) II. 217 Touching the word Create: in strait speaking, it betokeneth the making of a thing of nought.
1638 T. Whitaker Tree Humane Life 4 To prescribe a pondus or streight weight and measure of nutriment to all tempers.
13. Of friendship, alliance, etc.: Close, intimate. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adjective] > intimate or familiar > (of friendship) intimate
near1523
straita1533
narrow1556
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) i. sig. Ai He was sworne of the kynges preuye and streayte counsayle.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer ii. sig. P.ii Suche as are coopled in streicte amitie and vnseperable companye.
1568 J. Fen tr. J. Osório Learned Treat. Haddon i. f. 1 Both for the streight friendshippe, as also for the long acqueintaunce betwene vs.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. ii. 18 There ye see yet a streighter vnitie.
a1617 P. Baynes Comm. Ephes. (1658) 162 There is a most neer and strait union among the faithful.
1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis 25 By that time..I was fallen into straight Acquaintance, with a Merchant of that Citty, whose Name was Ioabin.
1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. J. F. Senault Man become Guilty 19 The difficulty is to know how the Soul..contracts Sin... To this I answer, that her streight union with the body is one cause of her sin.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. iv. 321 As a Compliment to this Kingdom, with which it [Spain] was then in streight Alliance and Confederacy.
1873 H. Rogers Superhuman Origin Bible (1875) i. 24 Or any similar strait alliance..of religion and morality.
a. Reluctant and chary in giving; close, stingy, illiberal. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adjective]
gnedec900
gripplea1000
fastOE
narrow-hearteda1200
narrow?c1225
straitc1290
chinchc1300
nithinga1325
scarcec1330
clama1340
hard1340
scantc1366
sparingc1386
niggardc1400
chinchy?1406
retentivea1450
niggardousa1492
niggish1519
unliberal1533
pinching1548
dry1552
nigh1555
niggardly1560
churlish1566
squeamish1566
niggardish1567
niggard-like1567
holding1569
spare1577
handfast1578
envious1580
close-handed1585
hard-handed1587
curmudgeonly1590
parsimonious?1591
costive1594
hidebound1598
penny-pinching1600
penurious1600
strait-handed1600
club-fisted1601
dry-fisted1604
fast-handed1605
fast-fingered1607
close-fisted1608
near1611
scanting1613
carkingc1620
illiberal1623
clutch-fisteda1634
hideboundeda1640
clutch-fista1643
clunch-fisted1644
unbounteous1645
hard-fisted1646
purse-bound1652
close1654
stingy1659
tenacious1676
scanty1692
sneaking1696
gripe-handed1698
narrow-souled1699
niggardling1704
snippy1727
unindulgent1742
shabby1766
neargoinga1774
cheesemongering1781
split-farthing1787
save-all1788
picked1790
iron-fisted1794
unhandsome1800
scaly1803
nearbegoing1805
tight1805
nippit1808
nipcheese1819
cumin-splitting1822
partan-handed1823
scrimping1823
scrumptious1823
scrimpy1825
meanly1827
skinny1833
pinchfisted1837
mean1840
tight-fisted1843
screwy1844
stinty1849
cheeseparing1857
skinflinty1886
mouly1904
mingy1911
cheapskate1912
picey1937
tight-assed1961
chintzy1964
tightwad1976
c1290 Beket 335 in S. Eng. Leg. 116 Of is ordres he was ful streit..and he was in grete fere For-to ordeinen ani Man: bote he þe betere were.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 390 Avarice,..Thurgh streit holdinge and thurgh skarsnesse Stant in contraire to Largesse.
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 1784 Of þin annuitee, þe paiement,..Þou dredest, whan þou art from court absent, Schal be restreyned, syn þou now present Vnneþes mayst it gete, it is so streit.
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 4522 But if so be,..Thow [a miser] correcte thy greedy appetyt, And of streit kepynge empte þy delyt.
c1440 J. Lydgate Secrees 763 Twen moche and lyte A mene to devise Of to mekyl And streight Coveitise.
a1475 G. Ashby Active Policy Prince 253 [To be] Ne to liberal for no frendlynesse. Ne ouer streit for noo necessite.
1483 Vulgaria abs Terencio (T. Rood & T. Hunte) sig. oviiiv To be more sparynge and streytere [L. vt frugalior sim].
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) v. vii. 42 I begge cold comfort: and you are so straight And so ingratefull, you deny me that.
a1628 J. Preston Breast-plate of Faith (1631) 62 Not to use them [our opportunities] because wee have straight hands and narrow hearts, is a signe we want love to Christ.
b. Of a person's ‘heart’: Contracted in sympathies, narrow. (Cf. strait-hearted adj., strait-heartedness n. at Compounds 1b(b).)
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [adjective]
unkinda1393
uncharitablec1485
incharitable1496
strait-laced1546
ingenerous1635
lean-souled1639
ungenerous1641
mean1665
straitened1712
strait1760
strait-hearted1760
little1766
unmagnanimous1788
narrowing1827
shoddy1918
1760 L. Sterne Serm. Luke x. 36–7 How often do you behold a sordid wretch, whose strait heart is open to no man's affliction, taking shelter behind an appearance of piety.
B. n.† 4. A narrow pass or gorge between mountains; a defile, ravine. Obsolete.† 7. A narrow lane, alley, or passage. Obsolete.† 9. plural. Cloth of single width, as opposed to broadcloth n. and adj. (Cf. A. 4b) Obsolete.
1. in figurative context.1611 Bible (King James) Lament. i. 3 All her persecutors ouertook her betweene [1885 (Revised) within] the straits . View more context for this quotation† b. plural with singular sense. Obsolete.
a. A narrow confined place or space or way generally. Now rare or Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [noun] > insufficiency of space > a confined or restricted space
narrowc1230
strait1352
throata1522
strait1545
straitness1625
constriction1826
bottleneck1850
fisherman's walk1867
1352 L. Minot Poems vi. 56 A bare now has him soght Till Turnay þe right gate, Þat es ful wele bithoght To stop Philip þe strate.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin x. 160 Thei rode forth..to the straite be-twene the wode and the river.
1544 P. Betham tr. J. di Porcia Preceptes Warre ii. xlvii. sig. L ij What is to be done when we do fyght in straites. Yf bothe the hostes mete and ioyne in strayte places, and neyther wyll recule,..then myne aduise is, [etc.].
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. vii. sig. S6v He brought him through a darksom narrow strayt, To a broad gate.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 149 Honour trauells in a straight so narrow: Where on but goes a brest.
1672 J. Lacey tr. A. Tacquet Mil. Archit. xiii. 28 in T. Venn Mil. & Maritine Discipline ii It cannot entertain a good quantity of Souldiers to defend it by reason of its straits.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 341 It was in a narrow Strait between two..Woods, that we pitch'd our little Camp for that Night.
1850 E. B. Browning Finite & Infinite in Poems 1 The wind sounds only in opposing straits.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [noun] > insufficiency of space > a confined or restricted space
narrowc1230
strait1352
throata1522
strait1545
straitness1625
constriction1826
bottleneck1850
fisherman's walk1867
1545 T. Raynald tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde iii. sig. X.iii Cheiflye fomente them on the strayghts betwene the fundament and the coddes.
1609 Bible (Douay) I. Num. xxii. 24 The Angel stoode in the streictes of two walles [L. in angustiis duarum maceriarum].
1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero II. x. 467 We got through the straits of the morass and the woods.
2. figurative.† c. straits of time n. Obsolete pressure or insufficiency of time.
a. A narrow or tight place, a time of sore need or of awkward or straitened circumstances, a difficulty or fix. Now rare in singular; still common in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > difficult state of things > predicament or straits
needfulnessc1350
kankedortc1374
pressc1375
needfultya1382
briguec1400
brikec1400
plightc1400
taking?c1425
partyc1440
distrait1477
brakea1529
hot water1537
strait1544
extremes1547
pickle1562
praemunire1595
lock1598
angustiae1653
difficulty1667
scrape1709
premune1758
hole1760
Queer Street1811
warm water1813
strift1815
fix1816
plisky1818
snapper1818
amplush1827
false position1830
bind1851
jackpot1887
tight1896
squeeze1905
jam1914
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > channel > [adjective] > Straits of Gibraltar
strait1544
singular.
plural.1565 J. Jewel Replie Hardinges Answeare xii. 474 But here marke thou, gentle Reader, into what straites these men be driuen.a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) v. ii. 62 I know into what straights of Fortune she is driuen. View more context for this quotationa1628 F. Greville Life of Sidney (1651) i. 18 That any man being forced, in the straines of this life, to pass through any straights, or latitudes of good, or ill fortune, might [etc.].1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 415 Thy self Bred up in poverty and streights at home. View more context for this quotationa1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1690) 48 Upon these occasions,..Merchants are put to great straights and inconveniences.1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) vii. 196 He keept them in great straits for money.1849 H. Martineau Introd. Hist. Peace (1877) III. v. ix. 379 Never were the Whig rulers reduced to more desperate straits.1894 Solicitors' Jrnl. 39 3/1 The defendant..is known to be in straits financially.1544 P. Betham tr. J. di Porcia Preceptes Warre i. cxxxvii. sig. G vij Whych thing is not to be done, but in a great strayte, & vrgent necessitie.
1642 Earl of Cork in Lismore Papers (1888) 2nd Ser. V. 117 By..deceiuing the trust imposed vpon you, you put two gentlemen to a greate streighte.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccccxxx. 407 The Lion finding what a Streight he was in, gave one Hearty Twitch, and got his Feet out of the Trap.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. xliii. 222 The streight, which the discovery of my brother's foolish project had brought me into.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. v. 67 I would advise you to tell your streight [1831 strait] to the Earl's chamberlain—you will have instant redress.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess i. 16 Trust me, I'll serve you better in a strait.
1879 C. Rossetti Seek & Find 34 The sun..at the voice of one man..stood still; in the strait of another it retrograded.
b. A dilemma; a difficulty of choice. ? Obsolete. Cf. strait v.In quot. 1611 only a contextual use of sense A. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > [noun] > an act of choosing > a difficult choice
dilemma1590
strait1611
1611 Bible (King James) Phil. i. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two [Gk. συνέχομαι δὲ ἐκ τῶν δύο] . View more context for this quotation
a1643 W. Cartwright Siedge ii. vi, in Comedies (1651) sig. I2 The straight is this, Either you must ruine th' Effect,..or lose Your Beauty by consenting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > [noun] > insufficiency of time
straitness of time1545
straits of time1612
achronism1877
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. vii. 84 In hearing parts in straights of time, thus we may examine only in those places where we most suspect the negligence.
1703 W. Burkitt Expos. Notes New Test. Matt. xxvii. 61 It was done in haste, by reason of the Streights of Time.
d. In generalized sense: Privation, hardship.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > hardship
hardeOE
grief?c1225
nowcinc1225
sharpship?c1225
straitnessa1340
necessityc1390
hardlaikc1540
hardshipc1540
disage1607
rough1615
rigour1632
erumny1657
strait1837
sufferation1976
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. ii. ii. 107 They..did often deliver the Aristocrat brother officer out of peril and strait.
1872 Daily News 27 Sept. There will be almost an unprecedented amount of suffering and strait in our large towns.
3.
a. A comparatively narrow water-way or passage connecting two large bodies of water.When used as a geographical proper name, the word is usually plural with singular sense, e.g. the Straits of Dover, the Straits of Gilbraltar (formerly †the Straits of Morocco), the Straits of Magellan, the Straits of Malacca, and the Straits as short for any of these; with regard to Bass('s) Strait(s), Torres Strait(s), usage is divided, while Davis Strait rarely appears in the plural form. The use of the plural for the singular began in the 15th centuries. A few writers, chiefly of gazetteers, use the singular consistently throughout. the Straits: in 17–18th centuries usually = the Straits of Gibraltar; later, where there is no contextual indication, chiefly = the Straits of Malacca.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > channel > [noun] > strait or narrow channel
sounda1300
straitc1386
narrowa1544
kyle1549
guta1552
distrait1562
fret1576
pacea1578
cut1598
narrow seas1615
Propontis1689
neck1719
tickle1770
rigolet1771
khal1903
singular.
plural.1439 Rolls of Parl. V. 31/2 Contres beyonde the Streytes of Marrok.a1549 A. Borde Fyrst Bk. Introd. Knowl. (1870) 213 They [Moors] wyl come ouer the straytes.1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 56 The sea..Italye disioyncting with short streicts from Sicil Island.1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xxviii. §2. 632 They returned home by the pillars and streights of Hercules (as the name was then) called now the straights of Gybraltar.1669 S. Sturmy Summary of Penalties & Forfeitures in Mariners Mag. 1 Commodities of the Levant Seas may be brought from any Port within the Straights.1769 J. Hall-Stevenson Yorick's Sentimental Journey Continued III. 65 You may drop the bloody dagger in the streights of Dover and Calais, to cleanse its sanguinary blade.1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II ii. xxii. 72 Through Calpe's straits survey the steepy shore.1884 O. Cavenagh Reminisc. Indian Official vii. 259 A succession of men-of-war and transports belonging to both nations passed through the Straits. The hospitality of Government House [Singapore] was tendered to all.1887 C. D. Bell Glean. Tour Palestine etc. 313 Passing through the straits of Abydos, the vessel made her quiet way..into the Sea of Marmora.c1386 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 366 The Strayte Of Marrok.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) iii. 688 As is the rais of Bretangȝe, Or strait off Marrok in-to Spanȝe.
a1527 R. Thorne in R. Hakluyt Divers Voy. (1582) sig. B3 They may returne thorowe the straite of Magallanas.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. x. 43 b We entred the streit of Hellespont.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 671 The small narrow streight of Menai.
1703 tr. L. de Lahontan New Voy. N.-Amer. I. 83 We entered the Streight of the Lake of Huron, where we met with a slack Current of half a League in breadth, that continued till we arriv'd in the Lake of St. Claire.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) I. 262 The narrow streight into the Euxine sea was a passage of difficult navigation.
1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia I. ii. vii. 319 (note) Passengers used to speak across the streight from Mull to Hy.
1850 E. B. Browning tr. Æschylus Prometheus Bound (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 173 That strait, called Bosphorus.
1887 W. D. Gainsford Winter's Cruise Mediterr. 294 At 1 p.m. we rounded Tarifa, and at 4.30 were off Trafalgar, and through the Strait.
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 37 Fra' Deli clear to Torres Strait.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
?c1600 A. Cowley Shortness Life in Ess. in Verse & Prose It is, alas, so narrow a Streight betwixt the Womb and the Grave, that it might be called the Pas de Vie.
1666 G. Harvey Morbus Anglicus iii. 9 The Infant..makes its sally out of the Womb, that's now grown too little to give it any longer harbour; and having thus passed the Streights, it's tossed into the wide world.
1805 W. Wordsworth Waggoner i. 10 Where the scattered stars are seen In hazy straits the clouds between.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam lxxxii. 116 Mine own [spirit]..hovering o'er the dolorous strait To the other shore. View more context for this quotation
c. plural. Short for Straits Settlements, the name formerly given to the British possessions in the Malay peninsula collectively (near the Straits of Malacca).
ΚΠ
1884 O. Cavenagh Reminisc. Indian Official vii. 372 I left the Straits a most flourishing colony.
1884 O. Cavenagh Reminisc. Indian Official vii. 372 I must always look back with pleasure to my connection with the Straits.
d. plural. up the Straits (see quot. 1962); in the Mediterranean. Nautical slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > naval service > [adverb] > in the Straits of Gibraltar
up the Straits1916
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > specific seas > [adverb] > in Mediterranean
up the Straits1916
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin i. 2 'Er commander's a werry nice gentleman; 'e was shipmates along o' me in th' Duncan up the Straits six year ago.
1962 W. Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 115/1 Straits, up the, serving on the Mediterranean Station in the Straits of Gibraltar.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > valley > [noun] > gorge or ravine
cloughc1330
heugha1400
straitc1400
gillc1440
gulfa1533
gull1553
gap1555
coomb1578
gullet1600
nick1606
goyle1617
gully1637
nullah1656
ravine1687
barrancaa1691
kloof1731
ravin1746
water gap1756
gorge1769
arroyo1777
quebrada1787
rambla1789
flume1792
linn1799
cañada1814
gulch1832
cañon1834
canyon1837
khud1837
couloir1855
draw1864
box canyon1869
sitch1888
tangi1901
opena1903
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xiv. 64 Fra Tortouse passez men..by land thurgh þe straytes of mountaynes and felles.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) iv. 458 Syne till a strate thai held thair way.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xv. 256 The kynge..sente hym worde to mete with hym at the streite of the roche magot.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. xv. 12 I wolde not counsayle you to passe the mountayns of Northumberlande, for there be mo than .xxx. streightes and passages.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cccxci Hauing won the straites of thalpes.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xv. 129 Through which narrow streights, Alexander..made his armie to pass.
1627 T. May tr. Lucan Pharsalia (new ed.) iv. F 5 b Below safe passages are found Through windings darke; which straights if once the foe Had in possession. Cæsar well did know [etc.].
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea III. i. 7 Leonidas..defended the streight of Thermopilæ with 4,000 men.
1778 T. Pennant Tour in Wales I. 85 They suffered the enemy to march along the streights of the country, till their forces were entangled in the depth of woods.
5. A narrow strip of land with water on each side, an isthmus. Now rare (poetic).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > promontory, headland, or cape > [noun] > isthmus
halse1488
necka1544
balka1552
isthmus1555
distrait1562
strait1562
strictland1577
land-passage1601
land-strait1601
isthm1609
land-neck1619
land-connection1876
thoroughfare1876
land-bridge1897
tombolo1897
1562 J. Shute tr. A. Cambini in Two Comm. Turcks i. 20v The walle of Esmilia, that was buylded vpon the straite called Isthmos.
1568 T. Hacket tr. A. Thevet New Found Worlde lxx. 113 Daryen, a straight of lande [Fr. detroit de terre], so named of the Riuer of Daryen.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xii. sig. H2 Afterward he passed..to the Corinthians, prowde of their two Seas, to learne whether by the streight of that Isthmus, it was possible to know of his [Diaphantus'] passage.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. iv. vii. 75 At the streights of Isthmus [L. ab Isthmi angustiis] beginneth Hellas.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vi. 297 Diuers have attempted to digge through this strait to make both Seas meete for a nearer passage to India.
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. ii. (1851) I. 156 He supposed this strait or isthmus to be situated near the gulf of Darien.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Morte d'Arthur in Poems (new ed.) II. 4 A chapel..That stood on a dark strait of barren land. On one side lay the Ocean, and on one Lay a great water.
6. A narrow part (of a river); plural ‘narrows’. Now rare or Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > system > [noun] > narrow part
strait?1427
narrowa1544
?1427–9 Rolls of Parl. IV. 364/2 Many diverses straites and daungers been in the entryng into the river of Humbre out of the See.
1568 T. Hacket tr. A. Thevet New Found Worlde xxv. 40 b The straight of our riuer being about a gunne shotte brode.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 199 That little river Lid, here at the bridge, gathered into a streit, and pent in betweene rocks, runneth downe amaine.
1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 481 Coming to the River..whose long and narrow Streights & Fords were very troublesome to passe.
1836 W. Irving Astoria II. 189 The long and terrific strait of the river set all further progress at defiance.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > lane > [noun]
lane971
twitchenOE
twitchelc1196
loaning1324
loan1362
stowc1440
strait1622
laning1638
slip1739
drong1787
loke1787
twittena1798
boreen1841
hutung1922
1622 J. Taylor Water-cormorant D 2 b And passing through a narrow obscure strait, The thieving knaue the purse he nimbly nims.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. vi. 29 in Wks. II Looke into any Angle o' the towne, (the Streights, or the Bermuda's) where the quarrelling lesson is read.
a1637 B. Jonson Under-woods xiii. 82 in Wks. (1640) III These men..turne Pyrats here at Land, Ha' their Bermudas and their streights i' th' Strand.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 498. ⁋2 Till he came to the Pass, which is a Military Term the Brothers of the Whip have given the Strait at St. Clement's Church.
8. The narrow part (of anything tubular); a narrow passage in the body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > shape > [noun] > tube or canal
conduit1340
pipec1385
channela1387
porea1398
canal?a1425
cannel?1553
strait1558
canaliculus1661
tube1661
duct1667
tubule1677
ductus1699
funnel1712
cannule1719
infundibulum1799
meatus1800
tubulet1826
tubulus1826
canalicule1839
canalization1840
ductule1883
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount (1568) 105 By that meanes it maye stoppe the strayte of the funnell.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 40 Dictamus is an Herbe..very wonderfull in losening & vnbinding the straights of the bodie.
1831 R. Knox tr. H. Cloquet Syst. Human Anat. (ed. 2) 119 This strait..is circumscribed anteriorly by the symphysis of the pubes, on the sides by the rami.
1881 Trans. Obstetr. Soc. 22 41 The vaginal stricture necessitating the performance of the operation through a narrow unyielding strait.
1890 G. M. Gould New Med. Dict. 332/2 Straits of Pelvis, superior and inferior, the planes of the inlet and outlet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > of specific size > other
straits1429
statute1466
narrow cloth1654
1429 Rolls of Parl. IV. 361/1 Fyn Streites of Essex for xxiiii s. a pece, commen Strettes xvi s.
1483 Act 1 Rich. III c. 8 All maner Clothes called Straytes to..conteigne.. in brede a yerde wt yn the listes.
1545 Rates Custome House sig. diij vi. Strayghtes for a clothe.
1553 Act 7 Edw. VI c. 9 An Acte for the true makinge of white playne streightes and pynned white streightes in Devon and Cornwall.
1568 Christis Kirk on Grene in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 262 Thair schone wes of þe straitis.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Straights or Streights, a sort of narrow Kersey, or woollen Cloth.
10. A tile about half the usual breadth used at the gable ends of a tiled roof.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > tile > [noun] > for roofing > for gable-end
strait1703
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 257 Strait, A Term us'd by Bricklayers, it is half, (or more, or less than half) a Tile in breadth, and the whole length. They are commonly us'd at the Gable-ends..to cause the Tiles to break Joint.
1887 Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc.) at Straight.
C. adv.† 2. Close; with narrow opening. Obsolete.† 3. In a crowded condition; with insufficient room. Obsolete.† 4. In strait or careful keeping, securely; in close confinement or strict custody. Obsolete.† 6. † b. With rigorous exactness; with strict correctness; exactly, precisely. Obsolete.
1. † b. With close bonds of fealty, friendship, servitude, etc. Obsolete.
a. Tightly. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > [adverb] > tightly or closely
narroweOE
straitc1200
straitly1338
sore1377
short1533
nearly1587
strictly1641
snug1674
chock1768
snugly1800
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 197 Nos sumus quasi serpentes terre corpore adherentes... We bed alse þe neddre, hie smuȝð strect bi þe eorðe.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iv. 1689 After that þei longe compleined hadde And ofte I-kiste & streite in Armes folde That þe day gan rise.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 459 Hir hosen weeren of fyn Scarlet reed Ful streyte yteyd.
c1420 J. Lydgate Assembly of Gods 539 Sodeynly..constreynyd..Was the ground to close hys superfyciall face So strayte that to scape Eolus had no space.
c1450 Mirk's Festial 9 Þay bonden hym to þe crosse..so hard and strayte, þat þe blod wrast apon yche a knot.
c1480 (a1400) St. George 288 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 184 Þai þat schupe þaim to duel stil, strat stekine set þe ȝettis til.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxvv To be lose skynned, that it stycke nat harde nor strayte to his rybbes.
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxvii. sig. U.viiv The scorneful crowne of sharpe thornes beaten doune vpon hys holye head so strayte and so depe, that on euerye parte hys blessed bloude issued out.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 2815 By the Regions of Rene rode þai ferre, Streit by the stremys of the stithe londys.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer ii. sig. Z.iiv The two..layed hande vpon Cesar with me and helde him streict.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 7 So strate vses the knot of vertue to be knutt betueine gud men.
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster iii. iv. sig. F2v Sirrah, Boy, brace your drumme a little straighter . View more context for this quotation
1684 R. Waller tr. Ess. Nat. Exper. Acad. del Cimento 38 Close then the folds of the Bladder, and bind it very strait round the Neck.
1885 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) Stret, tightly. ‘Tee it stret,’ tie it tightly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adverb] > intimately or familiarly > in close or intimate alliance
straitc1460
straitly1485
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 3643 Geffrey with his wisdom held hem hard & streyte.
c1480 (a1400) St. Vincent 401 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 270 For þo he brynt wes in þe fyre,..stratar to god wes he bundine.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. xii. sig. Mv For by the faith, which I to armes haue plight, I bownden am streight after this emprize.
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. L God, who raineth him [sc. the devil] so straight, that except he let him loose he can doo nothing.
1672 A. Marvell Rehearsal Transpros'd i. 28 Some that meddle in it do it chiefly in order to fetter men straiter under the formal bondage of fictitious Discipline.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > lack of breadth or narrowness > [adverb]
narrowa1200
straitc1440
narrowly1847
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 134 And kitte hem streit [L. strictius] aftir thi good vyndage, And, grapis fewe yhad, let kitte hem large [L. latius].
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 30 And still the ofter we loose [the offers], the straiter the doore opens, and the lesse is offer'd.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [adverb] > with insufficient room
straitlyc1400
straita1450
narrowly?1533
pinchedly1883
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > [adverb] > crowded together
a-throngc1300
straita1450
crowdedly1846
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlviii. l. 21 For so streite here, sire, we Sitte,..In distresse And In Mal Ese.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Iviiv To thintent the sycke..shuld not lye to thronge or strayte.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [adverb] > in careful keeping
straitc1330
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [adverb]
straitc1330
covertly1430
straitly1487
at (also to) hard meat1542
close1562
closely1597
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16311 Haue þys y þen herte ful streit, How þey haue don vs many deseit.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 723 For in that cuntre Maydenys been I-kept for gelosye Ful streyte lyst they dedyn sum folye.
c1386 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 885 Thogh they [Piramus and Tesbee] were kept ful longe streite oueral They been accorded rownynge thurgh a wal.
1461 H. Windsor in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 251 The Duc of Somerset, [and others]..ar comen into Normandy out of Scotland, and as yette they stand streit vnder arest.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur viii. xxxv. 327 He took la beale Isoud home with hym and kepte her strayte that by no meane neuer she myght wete nor sende vnto Trystram nor he vnto her.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 615 I hete you..The flese for to fecche, and ferke it away; And withstond all the stoure þat it strait yemys.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 376 He did emprison them..commaundyng the Jaylours to kepe them streyt in Irons.
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Macc. xiii. 49 They also of the towre in Ierusalem were kept so strait, that they could neither come foorth, nor goe into the countrey. View more context for this quotation
5. Severely, oppressively; so as to cause hardship. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [adverb]
heavilyc897
sharplyc900
hardeOE
sharpc1000
sorec1000
hardlyOE
etelichec1175
sorelyc1275
straita1300
sourc1300
grievously1303
drearilya1400
foullya1400
felly?c1400
snapelyc1420
durely1477
penallya1500
shrewlya1529
shrewdlyc1533
asperously1547
heinouslya1555
sensibly1613
instantly1638
shrowardly1664
severelya1682
atrociously1765
punishingly1839
a1300 Cursor Mundi 24849 Strangli strait þan war þai stadd.
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 3814 He durst come oute on no party Of alle þe twelue monþe..So was he beseged streyte.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 214 His fader grete werres hadde With Rome, whiche he streite ladde.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 880 Þus þay þrobled & þrong & þrwe vmbe his erez, & distresed him wonder strayt.
c1440 Generydes 1462 Generydes..hym [a prisoner] delyueryd onto Anasore, A gentill knyght keping the prison ther, To kepe hym hard and strayte in his office.
1460 W. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 164 He saythe it schuld go streythe wyth ȝow wythe-owt ȝowre wittnesse were rythe sofycyent.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 10 They were..compelled to eate all kinde of Vermine,..so harde and streit they were kept by the warre.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. iv. viii. 278 Danger drawing ever nigher, difficulty pressing ever straiter.
a. With strictness of conduct or rule. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > [adverb]
straitlyc1290
holilyc1374
strait1390
unpartingly1435
ritelyc1475
religiously1534
heedfully1561
rigorouslya1564
heedily1577
officiously1582
strictly1597
punctually1598
ritually1612
unadulterously1643
observantially1652
righteously1748
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 167 Of these lovers that loven streyte.
c1400 Rule St. Benet (Prose) ii. 6 Þa þat ere froward and recles, Lede þaim þe straiter.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xxii. 95 Þei desired þat he schuld sumwhat tempir þe gret hardnesse of religion and suffir hem not to be kept so streith as þei wer be-for.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 36 Þei kepe more specialy þe þings, & þe biddingis enioynid of men, & streytar þan biddingis & þingis enioynid of God.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxviii. 128 Therfore holde I straight all thy commaundementes, and all false wayes I vtterly abhorre.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adverb] > strictly
strait1338
smally1340
at point devicec1390
point-devicec1425
precisely1526
to the point device1542
just1549
rigorously1561
by the square1570
curiously1573
by point device1575
in print1576
to a tittle1597
nicelya1616
to a hair's breadtha1616
point-vice1641
to a nicka1680
to a cow's thumb1681
to a tee1693
narrowly1708
scrupulously1712
to a dot1728
perjinkly1775
to a nicety1795
astringently1866
to a fit1890
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1725) 84 Tuenty ȝere had he þe land & nien moneth streite.
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1725) 139 Henry dred disceite, He wild, that his conant were holden stable & streite.
a1450 J. Myrc Instr. to Par. Priests 1424 Whether hyt [the sin] be gret or smal, Open or hud, wyte þow al... Byd hym telle euen straȝt.
c1480 (a1400) St. Thais 80 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 217 Fore quhais [saulis] þu mon reknynge ȝeld, [as] strate as for þine.
1590 H. Smith Magistrates Script. 2 And though they iudge here, yet they shall be iudged hereafter, and giue account of their stewardship how they haue gouerned, as straite as their subiectes how they haue obeyed.
7. Graspingly, stingily. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adverb]
narrowlya1250
feeblyc1290
scarcely1340
straitly1340
strait1390
niggardly?1529
nighly1548
pinchingly1561
close-fisted1575
hard1580
niggishly1580
nearly1591
mincingly1593
costively1598
penuriously1616
neara1625
scantingly1627
parsimoniouslya1634
scrapingly1680
stingily1682
scrimply1690
sneakingly1695
churlishly1875
curmudgeonly1879
skinflintily1899
mingily1958
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 136 The more he hath of worldis good, The more he wolde it kepe streyte.
1853 W. Watson Poems 16 (E.D.D.) They grip their gear sae stret They live an' die in their ain debt.
Compounds
C1. Compounds of the adjective.
a. Special collocations. Also strait waistcoat n.† strait horehound n. Obsolete (see quot.).
strait gulf n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > bend in coast > [noun] > inlet in river or sea > in sea
fleetc893
pillOE
arm of the seaOE
sounda1300
lougha1387
bracec1400
lough1423
firthc1425
loch1427
resort1477
estuarya1552
inshot1555
mere1574
portlet1577
fret1587
frith1600
sea-gate1605
creek1625
sea-lochc1645
wick1664
fjord1674
voea1688
backwater1867
strait gulf1867
ocean-arm1871
ria1887
fjard1904
geo1934
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Strait Gulf, an arm of the sea running into the land through a narrow entrance channel, as the Gulf of Venice.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > stachys or hedge nettle
strait horehound1548
clown's all-heal1597
hedge-nettle1678
stachys1682
swine's arnit1735
clown's wound-wort1825
mouse-ear1882
saviour's blanket1882
rabbit ears1928
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. G.v Stachys..maye be named in englishe litle Horehounde or strayte Horehound.
strait jacket n. and v. = strait waistcoat n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > restriction of free action > restrict in free action [verb (transitive)]
bindc1200
hamper?a1366
chain1377
coarctc1400
prison?a1425
tether?a1505
fetter1526
imprisona1533
strait1533
swaddle1539
measure1560
shacklea1568
to tie up1570
manacle1577
straitena1586
hopple1586
immew16..
scant1600
cabina1616
criba1616
trammela1616
copse1617
cramp1625
cloister1627
incarcerate1640
hidebind1642
strait-lace1662
perstringe1679
hough-band1688
cabin1780
pin1795
strait jacket1814
peg1832
befetter1837
to tie the hands of1866
corset1935
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)] > in free action
bind971
hamper?a1366
chain1377
coarctc1400
prison?a1425
tether?a1505
fetter1526
imprisona1533
strait1533
swaddle1539
measure1560
shacklea1568
to tie up1570
manacle1577
straitena1586
hopple1586
immew16..
scant1600
cabina1616
criba1616
trammela1616
copse1617
cramp1625
cloister1627
incarcerate1640
hidebind1642
to box up1659
strait-lace1662
perstringe1679
hough-band1688
cabin1780
pin1795
strait jacket1814
peg1832
befetter1837
to tie the hands of1866
hog-tie1924
corset1935
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > binding or fettering > bind, fetter, or shackle [verb (transitive)] > in a straitjacket
jacket1792
strait jacket1814
strait-waistcoat1837
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > binding or fettering > [noun] > bond(s) or fetter(s) or shackle(s) > straitjacket
strait waistcoat1753
strait jacket1814
jacket1853
jumper1894
1814 W. Scott Let. 17 June (1932) III. 451 A madman, whom..he has..by the wholesome discipline of a bull's pizzle and strait-jacket, brought to..his senses.
1863 C. Reade Hard Cash II. xix. 313 The keepers, the very moment the justices left the house, would..strait-jacket them, and starve them.
1891 Harper's Mag. July 220/1 Distrusting all efforts of school-masters to strait-jacket our speech into formulas borrowed from the Latin.
1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 198 They intended..to put the national government and the national life into a strait-jacket.
strait-jacketed adj. confined in a strait jacket (chiefly figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > restriction of free action > [adjective] > restricted in free action
coarctc1420
shackledc1440
coarcteda1500
haltered?1510
catesnd1566
straited1581
immurate1593
chained1613
hampered1633
muzzled1647
throttled1677
tethereda1680
fetlocked1725
strangled1813
trammelled1813
spancelled1835
iron-bound1850
cabined1853
manacled1861
vaulted1863
tied1876
strait-jacketed1894
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > [adjective] > restricted or limited > in free action
coarctc1420
shackledc1440
coarcteda1500
haltered?1510
catesnd1566
straited1581
chained1613
hampered1633
muzzled1647
tethereda1680
fetlocked1725
strangled1813
trammelled1813
spancelled1835
iron-bound1850
cabined1853
manacled1861
vaulted1863
tied1876
strait-jacketed1894
1894 G. B. Shaw Let. 2 Dec. (1965) I. 462 The dramatist is so strait-jacketed in theories of conduct that he cannot even state his conventional solution clearly.
1937 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Oct. 743/3 It is a great story, a little strait-jacketed by the official style of the communiqués.
1955 Sci. News Let. 16 Apr. 255 A ‘what will people think’ disease is driving us all, cab driver as well as scientist, toward straitjacketed thinking and lock-step living.
strait-jacketing n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > restriction of free action > [noun]
locking1503
coarctinga1513
constraint1590
stint1593
coarctation1605
manacling1649
strait-waistcoating1859
hemming-in1905
strait-jacketing1950
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > restriction of free action > [adjective]
strangling1606
straiteninga1652
fettery1654
cramp1786
cramping1788
astricting1837
strait-jacketing1950
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > [noun] > of free action
coarctinga1513
constraint1590
stint1593
coarctation1605
manacling1649
strait-waistcoating1859
hemming-in1905
strait-jacketing1950
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > [adjective] > of free action
strangling1606
straiteninga1652
fettery1654
cramp1786
cramping1788
astricting1837
strait-jacketing1950
1950 Times 20 Mar. 3/3 Tendencies towards reducing Socialist democracy to a minimum, including the strait-jacketing of opinion and the suppression of the initiative of the people.
1965 K. H. Connell in D. V. Glass & D. E. C. Eversley Population in Hist. xvii. 433 The Malthusian theory, freed of its mathematical strait-jacketing, had a precise relevance to Irish conditions.
1977 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 26 May 17/1 Paradoxically, he finds liberation in a succession of instrumental works, the Trio, Symphony, Concerto, and two Quartets, all written according to certain principles of Schoenberg's new, reputedly strait-jacketing twelve-tone system.
1979 Time Out 5–11 Oct. 20/3 The possible straitjacketing effect of producing another revue.
strait work n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > [noun] > for coal > types of
footrill1686
post and stall1793
long way1795
stall-work1811
long-wall1820
pitchwork1858
stoop-and-room1881
stonework1883
strait work1883
stumping1883
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 244 Straight work or Strait work, the system of getting coal by headings or narrow work.
1904 Daily Chron. 19 Mar. 9/5 Coal was got from mines either by the wide-work system or by straight~work.
b.
(a) In parasynthetic adjectives.
strait-bodied adj.
ΚΠ
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster iv. i. sig. F4v This straight-bodied Citty attire..will stirre a Courtiers blood, more, then the finest loose Sackes the Ladies vse to be put in. View more context for this quotation
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) i. 85 Genua looked..like a proad yong Lady in a straight bodyed flowered gowne.
strait-breasted adj.
ΚΠ
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 453/2 That is narrow or streite breasted.
strait-breeched adj.
ΚΠ
1666 Char. Mary-Land (1869) 68 The straight-breecht Commonalty of the Spaniard.
strait-chested adj.
ΚΠ
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vi. 95 They are..hurtfull to the phlegmaticke..and them that are straight chested.
strait-clothed adj.
ΚΠ
c1450 Brut 297 Þe wemmen..were so strete cloþed þat þey lete hange fox tailes..with-inforþ hire cloþis, forto hele and heyde hire ars.
strait-coated adj.
ΚΠ
1858 C. G. F. Gore Heckington I. xiv. 301 The strait-coated young Reverence who replaced at the parsonage his defunct wide-skirted father-in-law.
strait-necked adj.
ΚΠ
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Addit. at Buck To make a guggling noise, as liquids when poured from a strait-necked bottle.
strait-sleeved adj.
ΚΠ
1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips v. 35 This cleaueth iust to the body, and is so narrowe and strayte sleued, that there is no wryncle at al in the garment.
strait-toothed adj.
ΚΠ
1700 W. King Transactioneer i. 18 One wide-toothed Comb, One strait-toothed Comb.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Drying Hemp There must be..an open or wide-tooth'd, or nick'd Brake, and a close and strait-tooth'd Brake [for hemp or flax].
strait-waisted adj.
ΚΠ
c1450 Brut 297 Long large and wyde cloþis..; & anoþer tyme schorte cloþis & stret-wasted.
(b) Special combinations.† strait-handed adj. Obsolete close-fisted, grasping, stingy.† strait-handedness n. Obsolete† strait-hearted adj. Obsolete ungenerous, exacting, mean.† strait-heartedness n. Obsolete† strait-mouthed adj. Obsolete reticent, uncommunicative.† strait-winded adj. Obsolete short of breath.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adjective]
gnedec900
gripplea1000
fastOE
narrow-hearteda1200
narrow?c1225
straitc1290
chinchc1300
nithinga1325
scarcec1330
clama1340
hard1340
scantc1366
sparingc1386
niggardc1400
chinchy?1406
retentivea1450
niggardousa1492
niggish1519
unliberal1533
pinching1548
dry1552
nigh1555
niggardly1560
churlish1566
squeamish1566
niggardish1567
niggard-like1567
holding1569
spare1577
handfast1578
envious1580
close-handed1585
hard-handed1587
curmudgeonly1590
parsimonious?1591
costive1594
hidebound1598
penny-pinching1600
penurious1600
strait-handed1600
club-fisted1601
dry-fisted1604
fast-handed1605
fast-fingered1607
close-fisted1608
near1611
scanting1613
carkingc1620
illiberal1623
clutch-fisteda1634
hideboundeda1640
clutch-fista1643
clunch-fisted1644
unbounteous1645
hard-fisted1646
purse-bound1652
close1654
stingy1659
tenacious1676
scanty1692
sneaking1696
gripe-handed1698
narrow-souled1699
niggardling1704
snippy1727
unindulgent1742
shabby1766
neargoinga1774
cheesemongering1781
split-farthing1787
save-all1788
picked1790
iron-fisted1794
unhandsome1800
scaly1803
nearbegoing1805
tight1805
nippit1808
nipcheese1819
cumin-splitting1822
partan-handed1823
scrimping1823
scrumptious1823
scrimpy1825
meanly1827
skinny1833
pinchfisted1837
mean1840
tight-fisted1843
screwy1844
stinty1849
cheeseparing1857
skinflinty1886
mouly1904
mingy1911
cheapskate1912
picey1937
tight-assed1961
chintzy1964
tightwad1976
1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah 38 They who are otherwise straight-handed enough in promoting that which is good, will spare no cost at all to further that which is evil.
1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned (1713) iii. vi. 378 God is neither narrow hearted, nor strait-handed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [noun]
fastship?c1225
scarcenessa1300
scarcity1340
niggardyc1390
nithingheada1400
scarcehead1420
nigonryc1430
niggardship?a1439
pinching1440
straitheadc1450
straitnessc1460
niggard cheap1463
niggardnessc1487
nigonshipa1500
niggardise1502
niggishness1519
niggardliness1556
parsimony1561
illiberality1581
nearness1584
tenacity1586
Euclionism1599
paring1607
servilitya1610
niggeralitya1612
scanting1625
scant-handednessa1627
closefistedness1631
niggardess1632
close-handedness1646
strait-handedness1649
penury1651
unbountifulness1660
parsimoniousness1671
penuriousness1672
stinginess1682
closeness1712
illiberalness1727
meanness1755
cheeseparing1834
scrimping1835
churlishness1846
screwing1848
skinflintism1853
screwiness1856
flint-paring1860
skinflintiness1861
scrimp1864
flint-skinning1873
penny-pinching1895
skimping1898
tight-fistedness1975
1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions iv. iii. 410 The Romish doctrine makes their strait-handednesse so much more injurious, as the cause of separation is more just.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [adjective]
unkinda1393
uncharitablec1485
incharitable1496
strait-laced1546
ingenerous1635
lean-souled1639
ungenerous1641
mean1665
straitened1712
strait1760
strait-hearted1760
little1766
unmagnanimous1788
narrowing1827
shoddy1918
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy II. xvii. 118 A strait-hearted, selfish wretch.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [noun]
littlenessa1400
unkindnessc1400
uncharitableness1544
uncharity1548
incharity1586
poorness1625
strait-heartedness1646
meanness1660
incharitableness1679
ungenerosity1757
ungenerousness1757
smallness1813
1646 P. Bulkley Gospel-covenant iii. 269 There is a straightheartedness..towards the Lord, in not ministering to the things which concern his worship; the least portion is enough.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective]
unspeakinga1382
speechless1390
mutec1400
dumb1406
silenta1425
peaceablec1425
secretc1440
of few wordsa1500
tongue-tied1529
mum1532
closec1540
strait-laced1546
tongue-dumb1556
incommunicable1568
sparing1568
inconversable1577
retentive1599
wordless1604
mumbudget1622
uncommunicable1628
monastica1631
word-bound1644
on (also upon) the reserve1655
strait-mouthed1664
oyster-like1665
incommunicative1670
mumchance1681
speechless1726
taciturnous1727
tongue-tacked1727
monosyllabic1735
silentish1737
untalkative1739
silentious1749
buttoned-up1767
taciturn1771
close as wax1772
untittletattling1779
reticent1825
voiceless1827
say-nothing1838
unremonstrant1841
still1855
unvocal1858
inexpansive186.
short-tongued1864
non-communicating1865
tight-lipped1876
unworded1886
chup1896
tongue-bound1906
shut-mouthed1936
zip-lipped1943
shtum1958
1664 R. Atkyns Orig. & Growth Printing 13 Some of them..are so streight-mouth'd, that they do not declare the whole Truth of what they know on our Part.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [adjective] > of breath: short > affected with
windlessa1400
breathlessa1425
short-breathed1470
andless1487
short-windeda1500
short-ended1595
breathed1599
outbreathed1600
strait-winded1601
anhelous1617
anheled1656
anhelant1657
suspirious1657
anhelose1661
blown1674
short-lunged1687
unbreathed1692
puffy1799
puffed1813
scant-of-wind1823
pumped-out1854
winded1883
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxii. xxii. 131 The white [Sowthistle]..is thought to bee as good as Lectuces, for those that be streight winded, and cannot take their breath but vpright.
C2. Compounds of the noun, with the sense ‘of or pertaining to the Straits (of Gibraltar, Malacca, etc.)’, also ‘suitable for ships bound thither’.
Straits-born adj. born in the Straits Settlements.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Malaysia > [adjective] > parts of
Malayic1723
Singaporean1880
Baba1886
Straits-born1907
1907 Q. Rev. July 180 The Straits-born Chinaman.
Straits Chinese n. a Chinese person born in one of the former Straits Settlements; also attributive or as adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Malaysia > [noun] > parts of
Malayan1598
Baba1858
Straits Chinese1897
Singaporean1927
1897 Straits Chinese Mag. Mar. 1/2 A Straits Chinese Magazine has been started; and although its name indicates that it will mainly be controlled and carried on by Straits Chinese, nevertheless within its columns will be discussed all matters of interest to Straits people generally.
1968 Radio Times 28 Nov. 20/2 Straits Chinese: Joyce Galbraith recalls..the Chinese she knew in Singapore.
1969 J. M. Gullick Malaysia i. 28 The modern descendants of the earliest wave of Chinese immigration several centuries ago are the ‘Straits Chinese’ whose forebears intermarried with local women.
1970 M. Pereira Pigeon's Blood xiv. 156 The manager..was a Straits Chinese by the name of Yee-Shen, originally a native of Malacca.
Straits fleet n.
ΚΠ
1693 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) III. 7 The Streights fleet and their convoy.
1693 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) III. 10 The Dutch Streights and West India fleets are arrived.
Straitsman n. (a) a ship suitable for the Straits; (b) Australian (see quot. 1846).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > trading vessel > cargo vessel > [noun] > coaster > types of
sixty-miler1747
Straitsman1799
trabacolo1800
chasse-marée1802
sumack1805
balandra1839
1799 Hull Advertiser 13 July 2/1 The good brigantine Lady Bruce..would make an excellent coaster or streightsman.
1846 J. L. Stokes Discov. Austral. II. xiii. 449 Straitsmen is the name by which those who inhabit the eastern and western entrance of Bass Strait are known.
straits oil n. a type of fish-oil (see quot. 1902), formerly made from fish caught in the straits between Newfoundland and Labrador; also elliptical.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > fish oil > types of
liver oil1747
cod liver oil1754
cod oil1761
straits oil1850
shore-oil1875
ray-oil1881
fish-liver-oil-
1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Arts & Manuf. 165 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 1) VI I..claim..the combination of the straits oil with the magnesia.
1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 229 The oil is clarified and bleached by boiling and filtering. Thus refined it is called ‘straits’.
1902 Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish & Fisheries 226 ‘Straits oil’ and ‘bank oil’ were formerly well-known grades of cod oil, but these are now made entirely from menhaden.
Straits sheathing n.
ΚΠ
1686 in T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. (1691) 69 Which upon due enquiry will appear to be very little more than a good Streights sheathing, and not above half so much as an East-India sheathing.
C3. Compounds of the adverb with past participles. Also strait-laced adj.
strait-besieged adj.
ΚΠ
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche ix. xvi. 138 When any Danger neer Our strait-beseiged Soule or Body draws.
1853 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 5) Prol. 3 O miracle of women,..O noble heart who, being strait-besieged By this wild king to force her to his wish, Nor bent, nor broke.
strait-braced adj.
ΚΠ
1627 M. Drayton Battaile Agincourt 39 The dreadfull bellowing of whose strait-brac'd Drummes, To the French sounded like the dreadfull doome.
strait-embraced adj.
ΚΠ
1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) i. clxxiv. 11 Those arms that courteous Vine About her strait-embraced Elm doth throw.
strait-tied adj.
ΚΠ
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Ciii Beyonde measure, my sleue is wyde Al of pleasure My hose strayte tyde.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† straitv.
Obsolete.
1. transitive ? To brace up to effort.[Perhaps a different word: cf. Old Norse streita-sk to struggle.]
ΚΠ
1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 756 Summe [of your idols] ȝou strenkþen to striue & straiten ȝour minde, & somme eggen in ese to eten and to drinke.
2. As rendering of Vulgate coartare, artare, lit. to press together, contract.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)]
needeOE
straita1340
pressa1393
afforcea1400
stressa1400
coactc1400
coarctc1400
strainc1400
compulse?a1475
cohert1475
oppress1523
compel1526
forcec1540
to tie to the stake1544
urge1576
adact1615
duressa1626
coerce1659
railroad1889
to twist the tail1895
steamroll1900
steamroller1912
shanghai1919
bulldozer1945
shotguna1961
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxxiv. 6 And aungel of lord straitand [L. coartans] þaim.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job xviii. 7 The goingis of his vertue shul be streitid [L. artabuntur].
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Joel ii. 8 Eche shal not streyte [L. non coartabit] his brother, eche shuln go in his path.
3.
a. To narrow (e.g. the course of a river, a street).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > lack of breadth or narrowness > make narrow [verb (transitive)]
narrowa1400
strait1421
straiten1552
enstrait1581
angustate1615
nip1850
1421 Coventry Leet Bk. 31 That þe Ryuer and the brokes..& allso the Red-dyche be enlargid..þe wiche, be encrochment of dwellers of both sydes, be strayted and narrowid, & with filthe, dong and stonys the watur stoppyd of his cours.
1510 in I. S. Leadam Select Cases Star Chamber (1911) II. 69 [He] made..many wharffes stathes & keyes.. Wherby the seide porte is greatly streyted and hurted..and shippes..applyeng the same for straytnes therof oftymes in greate Jeopardie.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 738/1 It is to wyde, you muste strayght it.
1606 Court Rolls 174/16 Wickham [Essex] View 23 Sept. (P.R.O.) Henry Finch hath straited the way in Mosepett Lane to the great annoyance of the King's people.
a1610 J. Manwood Treat. Lawes Forest (1615) xxiii. §7. 228 If any man haue stopped or strayted any Church-way, Mill-way, or other wayes..you shall do us to weet thereof.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 1 The sea, is so streited, that some thinke the land there was pierced thorow, and received the seas into it.
b. intransitive. To become narrowed, to narrow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > lack of breadth or narrowness > become narrow [verb (intransitive)]
narrowOE
straita1552
straiten1601
stripe1632
to neck down1931
a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) VII. 47 Dargwent..casteth owt an Arme of his abundant Water that maketh a poole,..and afterward strayteth, and at the last cummeth ynto Dargwent, and so maketh an Isle.
4. To shut up in or force into a narrow space.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [verb (transitive)] > give insufficient room to
straitc1420
straiten1576
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > confine [verb (transitive)] > confine in a narrow space
threnga1154
thringc1250
straitc1420
estrait1529
straiten1576
stew1590
estraitena1610
crowdc1632
cramp1683
to box in1845
poke1860
c1420 J. Lydgate Assembly of Gods 1633 Lyke as Eolus, beyng at hys large, Streytyd hym sylf thorow his owne lewdenesse.
1534 T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1347/2 The tyme shall come whan..the churche by persecucion [shal be] so strayghted into so narow a corner, that..it shall seeme that there shall bee than no chrysten countreyes left at all.
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin viii. 442 At the beginning our towne was strayted.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 614 He..straited the battell of his footemen [Amyot estroissit la bataille de ses gens de pied].
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xiv. 28 Which..yet suffisd, to hide them, though their men Were something streighted [Gk. στείνοντο δὲ λαοί].
1612 J. Davies Muses Sacrifice sig. X2v My Body's but the Prison of my Soule; which straits her more, the more that Prison's free.
1633 Campion's Hist. Ireland i. vii. 23 All sorts brake truce and amity with the Gyants, and straited them up so, that from all corners of the land, they must needes assemble into one field.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 22 Your best way will bee to howse them all night, viz. to lye them in some howse or barne wheare they may not bee straited for roome.
5.
a. ? To do violence to, to mar.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)] > in purity, beauty, etc.
strait1390
confoundc1420
quench1926
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 341 Bot for he wolde be nomore Among the wommen so coveited, The beaute of his face streited He hath.
b. To press hardly upon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict > oppress or afflict
heavyc897
narroweOE
overlayOE
overseamOE
twingea1300
to weigh downa1340
grieve1340
besit1377
oppressc1384
foila1400
thringa1400
empressc1400
enpressc1400
aska1425
press?a1425
peisea1450
straita1464
constraina1500
overhale1531
to grate on or upon1532
wrack1562
surcharge1592
to lie heavy uponc1595
to weigh back, on one side, to the earth1595
to sit on ——1607
to sit upon ——1607
gall1614
bear1645
weight1647
obsess1648
aggrieve1670
swinge1681
lean1736
gravitate1754
weigh1794
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 243 Ther took he a preest of þe secte and oþir seruauntis of his, whom þe Lord Bergeueni streytid so þat þei told wher Oldcastell was hid.
1594 in Highl. Papers (S.H.S.) I. 186 My Lord Argyll had straitit him verie sore about a band quhilk he had with Huntly.
1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia x. Argt. Cæsar..By ship to Pharos takes his flight. Where being straighted by his foes, From thence by swimming safely goes.
c. To bring into straits, subject to hardship.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict
overharryeOE
aileOE
swencheOE
besetOE
traya1000
teenOE
to work (also do) (a person) woeOE
derve?c1225
grieve1297
harrya1300
noyc1300
travailc1300
to work (also do) annoyc1300
wrath14..
aggrievea1325
annoya1325
tribula1325
to hold wakenc1330
anguish1340
distrainc1374
wrap1380
strain1382
ermec1386
afflicta1393
cumbera1400
assayc1400
distressc1400
temptc1400
encumber1413
labour1437
infortune?a1439
stressa1450
trouble1489
arraya1500
constraina1500
attempt1525
misease1530
exercise1531
to hold or keep waking1533
try1539
to wring to the worse1542
pinch1548
affligec1550
trounce1551
oppress1555
inflict1566
overharl1570
strait1579
to make a martyr of1599
straiten1611
tribulatea1637
to put through the hoop(s)1919
snooter1923
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 637 Hauing straighted his enemies with scarcety of vittells.
1633 Orkney Witch Trial in Abbotsford Club Misc. 152 Scho and hir haill fammillie was straitit with drouth for the space off xx dayis ore ane mounth.
1640 Whole Bk. Psalmes: ‘Bay Psalm Bk.’ cvii. 28 While straited thus in these extreams Wnto the Lord they cry.
1654 R. Vilvain tr. Enchiridium Epigr. v. xii. 95 Exter..Hath with ten sieges grievously bin streited.
d. In passive, to be hard put to it, to be at a loss, to be nonplussed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (intransitive)] > come to an impasse or be stuck
to stick in the claya1475
stick1534
stale1597
cumber1600
to stick in the mud1603
straita1616
strand1687
quagmire1701
stog1855
slew1890
bunker1894
bog1928
to be bogged1953
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 352 If your Lasse Interpretation should abuse, and call this Your lacke of loue, or bounty, you were straited For a reply. View more context for this quotation
1624 Bp. F. White Replie to Iesuit Fishers Answere 357 We are not so straighted for words.
1646 R. Baillie Anabaptism 37 When in their debates against the baptism of infants they are straited with consequences from the circumcision of infants.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (Rev. xvii. 18) The Rhemists are so straited that they know not which way to turn them.
6. To tighten (a knot).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > make fast [verb (transitive)] > tighten (bands, cords, knots, nuts)
strainc1300
restrainc1425
strait1557
straiten1647
jam1726
tighten1727
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. I.i And if I did, the lot, That first did me enchayne: May neuer slake the knot, But strayght it to my payne.
7.
a. To confine, restrict to a person, time, etc.; to confine within limits.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > quality of being restricted or limited > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)] > to or within something
tinec1430
naila1522
restrict1535
conclude1548
strait1581
astrict1588
retract1713
pin1718
thirl1864
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 102 b His doctrine being not straighted within the boundes of Nature.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 399 Yet ought not this power be so narrowly streighted either to one Byshop onely..as though there were none other Remission of Sinnes.
b. To restrict in choice. Const. between, betwixt (alternatives, options).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > qualification > modify, qualify [verb (transitive)] > act as condition, limit
determinea1513
strait1633
conditionate1646
condition1829
circumscribe1846
1633 A. Johnston Diary (1911) I. 110 Being straited by God (as I thought) betuixt three unsupportable burdens.
1637 G. Gillespie Dispute against Eng.-Popish Ceremonies ii. ix. 51 He is greatly mistaken, whiles he thinkes that a man can be so straited betwixt two scandalls, that he cannot choose but give the one of them.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 30 Straighted betweene the choice of either famine, warre, or pestilence.
c. To restrict in freedom of action.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > restriction of free action > restrict in free action [verb (transitive)]
bindc1200
hamper?a1366
chain1377
coarctc1400
prison?a1425
tether?a1505
fetter1526
imprisona1533
strait1533
swaddle1539
measure1560
shacklea1568
to tie up1570
manacle1577
straitena1586
hopple1586
immew16..
scant1600
cabina1616
criba1616
trammela1616
copse1617
cramp1625
cloister1627
incarcerate1640
hidebind1642
strait-lace1662
perstringe1679
hough-band1688
cabin1780
pin1795
strait jacket1814
peg1832
befetter1837
to tie the hands of1866
corset1935
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)] > in free action
bind971
hamper?a1366
chain1377
coarctc1400
prison?a1425
tether?a1505
fetter1526
imprisona1533
strait1533
swaddle1539
measure1560
shacklea1568
to tie up1570
manacle1577
straitena1586
hopple1586
immew16..
scant1600
cabina1616
criba1616
trammela1616
copse1617
cramp1625
cloister1627
incarcerate1640
hidebind1642
to box up1659
strait-lace1662
perstringe1679
hough-band1688
cabin1780
pin1795
strait jacket1814
peg1832
befetter1837
to tie the hands of1866
hog-tie1924
corset1935
1533 T. More Apologye 249 Yet are they streyghted by the playne law that they may not so do at the seconde, whan the man is relapsed.
1613 T. Heywood Siluer Age iii. sig. F2v Nor powers of heauen shall streight me, till the deaths Of yon adulteresse and her mechall brats.
a1617 P. Baynes Lectures 272 in Comm. First & Second Chapters Colossians (1634) God in none of these [things] is straited.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 149 Selfe hath hidebound thee and straited thee in thine owne bowells.
8. To keep ill supplied, to stint.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > keep ill-supplied
to hold or keep (a person) shortc1425
strait1513
scant1565
starve1570
scantle1581
shorten1599
scant1600
scant1607
short1620
straiten1627
famish1667
limit1670
scrimp1691
under-furnish1694
stint1722
1513 Sir E. Howard in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. I. 149 I have geven such ordre in dispendyng of our vitaill that ther was never Army so straited, nat by one drynkyng in a day, wich I know well hath byn a grete sparyng.
1565 T. Harding Answere to Iuelles Chalenge xvii. 165 Herein I am more encombred with store, then straighted with lacke.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xviii. xxi. 581 And surely, I doe find this rule of his most true,..in case a man have land ynough for to let his grounds..rest every second yeare. But how if a man is streighted that way, and hath no such reach and circuit lying to his living?
1606 Bp. J. Hall Arte Diuine Medit. §iv God hath not straited vs for matter, hauing giuen vs the scope of the whole world.
1669 W. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 446 We are so straighted here in our charities, as we can furnish as yet but two hundred pistoles towards all the Church charities.
9. To reduce the duration or period of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > short duration [verb (transitive)] > shorten
shortc1175
laska1375
abridgec1384
breviatea1529
strait1571
scantelize1611
curta1618
shortena1641
decontract1647
1571 T. Bannester Let. 29 Mar. in State Papers Colonial East Indies (P.R.O.: CO 771/2) f. 3 They went from yt, and streyghted owr yerelye Pencyon or Allowance to iij yeres.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 403 b Whereas Gregory the 11. reduced the Jubilee to the 33. yeare..Paule 2. and Sixtus the 4...streighted the Jubilee to the 25. yeare, in the yeare 1475.
10. To limit in amount or degree; also, to impute limitation to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [verb (transitive)] > limit
strait1533
1533 T. More Answere Poysened Bk. iv. xiii. f. ccxxxv I..sayd..that Fryth was but a fole so to strayte and to limite the power of almyghty god.
1588 G. Babington Profitable Expos. Lords Prayer v. 379 Nowe in the tyme of his Gospell his goodnes is not streyted or diminished.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems ii. iii. iv. xli So that the durance of the Deity We must contract, or strait his full Benignity.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > restriction of free action > [adjective] > restricted in free action
coarctc1420
shackledc1440
coarcteda1500
haltered?1510
catesnd1566
straited1581
immurate1593
chained1613
hampered1633
muzzled1647
throttled1677
tethereda1680
fetlocked1725
strangled1813
trammelled1813
spancelled1835
iron-bound1850
cabined1853
manacled1861
vaulted1863
tied1876
strait-jacketed1894
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > lack of breadth or narrowness > [adjective] > narrowed
straited1581
narrowed1599
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > [adjective] > restricted or limited > in free action
coarctc1420
shackledc1440
coarcteda1500
haltered?1510
catesnd1566
straited1581
chained1613
hampered1633
muzzled1647
tethereda1680
fetlocked1725
strangled1813
trammelled1813
spancelled1835
iron-bound1850
cabined1853
manacled1861
vaulted1863
tied1876
strait-jacketed1894
1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades vii. 125 Lycurgus..slue him downe in strayted lane [στεινωπῳ̑ ἐν ὁδῳ̑], where club he could not weeld.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. C4 But that full right..did so unbind His straited sprights, that..He..straight fled out of sight.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.adv.c1200
v.a1340