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Wide vs. Narrow

Wide and Narrow Definitions

Wide

Having a specified extent from side to side
A ribbon two inches wide.

Narrow

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

Wide

Extending over a great distance from side to side; broad
A wide road.
A wide necktie.

Narrow

Limited in area or scope; cramped.

Wide

Having great extent or range; including much or many
A wide selection.
Granting wide powers.
Wide variations.

Narrow

Lacking flexibility; rigid
Narrow opinions.
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Wide

Fully open or extended
Look with wide eyes.

Narrow

Barely sufficient; close
A narrow margin of victory.

Wide

To the side of or at a distance from a given boundary, limit, or goal
A shot that was wide of the target.

Narrow

Painstakingly thorough or attentive; meticulous
Narrow scrutiny.

Wide

(Baseball) Outside.

Narrow

(Linguistics) Tense.
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Wide

(Sports) Being toward or near one of the side boundaries of a playing area, such as a sideline on a football field.

Narrow

To reduce in width or extent; make narrower.

Wide

Deviating or straying from something expected or specified
A remark that was wide of the truth.

Narrow

To limit or restrict
Narrowed the possibilities down to three.

Wide

(Linguistics) Lax.

Narrow

To become narrower; contract.
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Wide

Over a great distance; extensively
Traveled far and wide.

Narrow

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

Wide

To the full extent; completely.

Narrow

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

Wide

To the side of or at a distance from a given boundary, limit, or goal.

Narrow

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

Wide

(Sports) Toward or near one of the sides of a playing area
Ran wide to catch a pass.

Narrow

Having a small width; not wide; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.
A narrow hallway

Wide

A ball bowled outside of the batsman's reach, counting as a run for the batting team in cricket.

Narrow

Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.

Wide

Having a large physical extent from side to side.
We walked down a wide corridor.

Narrow

(figuratively) Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude.
A narrow interpretation

Wide

Large in scope.
The inquiry had a wide remit.

Narrow

Contracted; of limited scope; bigoted
A narrow mind
Narrow views

Wide

(sports) Operating at the side of the playing area.
That team needs a decent wide player.

Narrow

Having a small margin or degree.
A narrow escape
The Republicans won by a narrow majority.

Wide

On one side or the other of the mark; too far sideways from the mark, the wicket, the batsman, etc.

Narrow

(dated) Limited as to means; straitened
Narrow circumstances

Wide

Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the organs in the mouth.

Narrow

Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.

Wide

Vast, great in extent, extensive.
The wide, lifeless expanse.

Narrow

Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.

Wide

(obsolete) Located some distance away; distant, far.

Narrow

(phonetics) Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; distinguished from wide.

Wide

(obsolete) Far from truth, propriety, necessity, etc.

Narrow

A narrow passage, especially a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water.
The narrows of New York harbor

Wide

(computing) Of or supporting a greater range of text characters than can fit into the traditional 8-bit representation.
A wide character; a wide stream

Narrow

(transitive) To reduce in width or extent; to contract.
We need to narrow the search.

Wide

Antagonistic, provocative.

Narrow

(intransitive) To get narrower.
The road narrows.

Wide

Extensively
He travelled far and wide.

Narrow

(of a person or eyes) To partially lower one's eyelids in a way usually taken to suggest a defensive, aggressive or penetrating look.
He stepped in front of me, narrowing his eyes to slits.
She wagged her finger in his face, and her eyes narrowed.

Wide

Completely
He was wide awake.

Narrow

(knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.

Wide

Away from or to one side of a given goal
The arrow fell wide of the mark.
A few shots were fired but they all went wide.

Narrow

To convert to a data type that cannot hold as many distinct values.
To narrow an int variable to a short variable

Wide

So as to leave or have a great space between the sides; so as to form a large opening.

Narrow

Of little breadth; not wide or broad; having little distance from side to side; as, a narrow board; a narrow street; a narrow hem.
Hath passed in safety through the narrow seas.

Wide

(cricket) A ball that passes so far from the batsman that the umpire deems it unplayable; the arm signal used by an umpire to signal a wide; the extra run added to the batting side's score

Narrow

Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.
The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world.

Wide

Having considerable distance or extent between the sides; spacious across; much extended in a direction at right angles to that of length; not narrow; broad; as, wide cloth; a wide table; a wide highway; a wide bed; a wide hall or entry.
The chambers and the stables weren wyde.
Wide is the gate . . . that leadeth to destruction.

Narrow

Having but a little margin; having barely sufficient space, time, or number, etc.; close; near{5}; - with special reference to some peril or misfortune; as, a narrow shot; a narrow escape; a narrow miss; a narrow majority.

Wide

Having a great extent every way; extended; spacious; broad; vast; extensive; as, a wide plain; the wide ocean; a wide difference.
For sceptered cynics earth were far too wide a den.
When the wide bloom, on earth that lies,Seems of a brighter world than ours.

Narrow

Limited as to means; straitened; pinching; as, narrow circumstances.

Wide

Of large scope; comprehensive; liberal; broad; as, wide views; a wide understanding.
Men of strongest head and widest culture.

Narrow

Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted; as, a narrow mind; narrow views.

Wide

Of a certain measure between the sides; measuring in a direction at right angles to that of length; as, a table three feet wide.

Narrow

Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.
A very narrow and stinted charity.

Wide

Remote; distant; far.
The contrary being so wide from the truth of Scripture and the attributes of God.

Narrow

Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.
But first with narrow search I must walk roundThis garden, and no corner leave unspied.

Wide

Far from truth, from propriety, from necessity, or the like.
It is far wide that the people have such judgments.
How wide is all this long pretense !

Narrow

Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; - distinguished from wide; as ē (ēve) and Ō (fŌd), etc., from ĭ (ĭll) and Ŏ (fŎt), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, 13.

Wide

On one side or the other of the mark; too far side-wise from the mark, the wicket, the batsman, etc.
Surely he shoots wide on the bow hand.
I was but two bows wide.

Narrow

A narrow passage; esp., a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water; - usually in the plural; as, The Narrows of New York harbor.
Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerousnarrow.

Wide

Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the mouth organs; - opposed to primary as used by Mr. Bell, and to narrow as used by Mr. Sweet. The effect, as explained by Mr. Bell, is due to the relaxation or tension of the pharynx; as explained by Mr. Sweet and others, it is due to the action of the tongue. The wide of ē (ēve) is ĭ (ĭll); of ā (āte) is ĕ (ĕnd), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, 13-15.

Narrow

To lessen the breadth of; to contract; to draw into a smaller compass; to reduce the width or extent of.

Wide

Having or showing a wide difference between the highest and lowest price, amount of supply, etc.; as, a wide opening; wide prices, where the prices bid and asked differ by several points.

Narrow

To contract the reach or sphere of; to make less liberal or more selfish; to limit; to confine; to restrict; as, to narrow one's views or knowledge; to narrow a question in discussion.
Our knowledge is much more narrowed if we confine ourselves to our own solitary reasonings.

Wide

To a distance; far; widely; to a great distance or extent; as, his fame was spread wide.
[I] went wyde in this world, wonders to hear.

Narrow

To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.

Wide

So as to leave or have a great space between the sides; so as to form a large opening.

Narrow

To become less broad; to contract; to become narrower; as, the sea narrows into a strait.

Wide

So as to be or strike far from, or on one side of, an object or purpose; aside; astray.

Narrow

Not to step out enough to the one hand or the other; as, a horse narrows.

Wide

That which is wide; wide space; width; extent.

Narrow

To contract the size of a stocking or other knit article, by taking two stitches into one.

Wide

That which goes wide, or to one side of the mark.

Narrow

A narrow strait connecting two bodies of water

Wide

Having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other;
Wide roads
A wide necktie
Wide margins
Three feet wide
A river two miles broad
Broad shoulders
A broad river

Narrow

Make or become more narrow or restricted;
The selection was narrowed
The road narrowed

Wide

Broad in scope or content;
Across-the-board pay increases
An all-embracing definition
Blanket sanctions against human-rights violators
An invention with broad applications
A panoptic study of Soviet nationality
Granted him wide powers

Narrow

Define clearly;
I cannot narrow down the rules for this game

Wide

(used of eyes) fully open or extended;
Listened in round-eyed wonder
Stared with wide eyes

Narrow

Become more special;
We specialize in dried flowers

Wide

Very large in expanse or scope;
A broad lawn
The wide plains
A spacious view
Spacious skies

Narrow

Become tight or as if tight;
Her throat constricted

Wide

Great in degree;
Won by a wide margin

Narrow

Not wide;
A narrow bridge
A narrow line across the page

Wide

Great in range or scope;
An extended vocabulary
Surgeons with extended experience
Extensive examples of picture writing
Suffered extensive damage
A wide selection

Narrow

Limited in size or scope;
The narrow sense of a word

Wide

Having ample fabric;
The current taste for wide trousers
A full skirt

Narrow

Lacking tolerance or flexibility or breadth of view;
A brilliant but narrow-minded judge
Narrow opinions

Wide

Not on target;
The kick was wide
The arrow was wide of the mark
A claim that was wide of the truth

Narrow

Very limited in degree;
Won by a narrow margin
A narrow escape

Wide

With or by a broad space;
Stand with legs wide apart
Ran wide around left end

Narrow

Characterized by painstaking care and detailed examination;
A minute inspection of the grounds
A narrow scrutiny
An exact and minute report

Wide

To the fullest extent possible;
Open your eyes wide
With the throttle wide open

Wide

Far from the intended target;
The arrow went wide of the mark
A bullet went astray and killed a bystander

Wide

To or over a great extent or range; far;
Wandered wide through many lands
He traveled widely

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