strait1 (str at)

and n. [Early mod. E. also straight, streight, streit, etc.; Egypt is a long Contree; but it is streyt , that is to seye narow; for the i may not enlargen it toward the Desert, for defaute of Watre. Mandeville , Travels, p. 45. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Mat. vii. 14. Britons seen, all flying Through a strait lane. Shak ., Cymbeline, v. 3. 7. 2. Confined; restricted; limited in space or accommodation; close. Ther was swich congregacioun Of peple, and eek so streit of her berg age, That they ne founde as much as o cotage In which they bot he myghte ylogged be. Chaucer , Nun's Priest's Tale, 1. 169. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for 2 Ki. vi. 1. us. IMG:content-2240.png:[blocks in formation] You rode, like a kern of Ireland, your French hose off, and in your strait stro ers. Shak ., Hen. V., iii. 7. 57. He [man] might see that a strait glove will come more easily on with use. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 295. I denounce against all strait Lacing, squeezing for a Shape. Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 5. 5t. Close. (a) Near; intimate; familiar. He, forgetting all former injuries, had received that naughty Plexirtus into a straight degree of favour, his goodne being as apt to be deceived as the other's craft was to deceive. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, ii. ( Latham.) (b) Strict; careful. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary IMG:content-2242.png:[blocks in formation]