I suspect this word and near to be contracted by the loss of g, nig, narrow, strait; nigiaw, to narrow; for the D. has naauw, narrow, close, G. with a prefix. In this case, the word belongs to the root of nigh; to approach.

Of little breadth; not wide or broad; having little distance from side to side; as a narrow board; a narrow street; a narrow sea; a narrow hem or border. It is only or chiefly applied to the surface of flat or level bodies.

Of little extent; very limited; as a narrow space or compass.

Covetous; not liberal or bountiful; as a narrow heart.

Contracted; of confined views or sentiments; very limited. The greatest understanding is narrow. In this sense and the former, it is often prefixed to mind or soul; as narrow-minded; narrow-souled; narrow-hearted.

Near; within a small distance.

Close; near; accurate; scrutinizing; as a narrow search; narrow inspection.

Near; barely sufficient to avoid evil; as a narrow escape.

A strait; a narrow passage through a mountain, or a narrow channel of water between one sea or lake and another; a sound. It is usually in the plural, but sometimes in the singular.

To lessen the breadth of; to contract. A government, by alienating the affections of the people, may be said to narrow its bottom.

To contract in extent; as, to narrow ones influence; to narrow the faculties or capacity.

To draw into a smaller compass; to contract; to limit; to confine; as, to narrow our views or knowledge; to narrow a question in discussion.

In knitting, to contract the size of a stocking by taking two stitches into one.

To become less broad; to contract in breadth. At that place, the sea narrows into a strait.

In horsemanship, a horse is said to narrow, when he does not take ground enough, or bear out enough to the one hand or the other.

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