narrow
verb/ˈnærəʊ/
/ˈnærəʊ/
[intransitive, transitive]Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they narrow | /ˈnærəʊ/ /ˈnærəʊ/ |
| he / she / it narrows | /ˈnærəʊz/ /ˈnærəʊz/ |
| past simple narrowed | /ˈnærəʊd/ /ˈnærəʊd/ |
| past participle narrowed | /ˈnærəʊd/ /ˈnærəʊd/ |
| -ing form narrowing | /ˈnærəʊɪŋ/ /ˈnærəʊɪŋ/ |
- to become or make something less wide
- This is where the river narrows.
- Her eyes narrowed (= almost closed) menacingly.
- narrow to something His eyes narrowed to slits.
- narrow something He narrowed his eyes at her.
Extra Examples- Her eyes narrowed against the sun.
- Her eyes narrowed in anger.
- Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the woman.
- His blue eyes narrowed suspiciously.
- His eyes narrowed with suspicion.
- His eyes suddenly narrowed at the sight of her.
- Lee's eyes narrowed against the harsh glare of the sun.
- Left untreated, the arteries will gradually narrow, restricting the flow of blood.
- The blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
- The river narrows a little here.
- Though her eyes narrowed fractionally, she made no comment.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- slightly
- suddenly
- dangerously
- …
- against
- at
- in
- …
- to become or make something more limited in range or extent
- The gap between the candidates has narrowed significantly.
- The company has narrowed the gap between premium and discount brands.
- We need to try and narrow the health divide between rich and poor.
- The author has chosen to narrow her focus on particular areas.
- The gap between the two teams has narrowed to three points.
Extra Examples- By the final round the gap had narrowed to three votes.
- After the initial interviews, we narrowed the field to three finalists.
- The gap between the two parties narrowed sharply in the days before the election.
- The trade deficit with China narrowed slightly.
Word OriginOld English nearu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch naar ‘dismal, unpleasant’ and German Narbe ‘scar’. Early senses in English included ‘constricted’ and ‘mean’.
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narrow