‖a. [ F. See Distract. ] Absent-minded; lost in thought; abstracted. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Too straitly or strictly. [ Obs. ] Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To put to difficulties. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Straits [ OE. straight, streit, OF. estreit, estroit. See Strait, a. ] 1. A narrow pass or passage. [ 1913 Webster ]

He brought him through a darksome narrow strait
To a broad gate all built of beaten gold. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Honor travels in a strait so narrow
Where one but goes abreast. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: (Geog.) A (comparatively) narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water; -- often in the plural; as, the strait, or straits, of Gibraltar; the straits of Magellan; the strait, or straits, of Mackinaw. [ 1913 Webster ]

We steered directly through a large outlet which they call a strait, though it be fifteen miles broad. De Foe. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A neck of land; an isthmus. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A dark strait of barren land. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fig.: A condition of narrowness or restriction; doubt; distress; difficulty; poverty; perplexity; -- sometimes in the plural; as, reduced to great straits. [ 1913 Webster ]

For I am in a strait betwixt two. Phil. i. 23. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let no man, who owns a Providence, grow desperate under any calamity or strait whatsoever. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ulysses made use of the pretense of natural infirmity to conceal the straits he was in at that time in his thoughts. Broome. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. A variant of Straight. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Straiter superl. Straitest. ] [ OE. straight, streyt, streit, OF. estreit, estroit, F. étroit, from L. strictus drawn together, close, tight, p. p. of stringere to draw tight. See 2nd Strait, and cf. Strict. ] 1. Narrow; not broad. [ 1913 Webster ]

Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matt. vii. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too strait and low our cottage doors. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Tight; close; closely fitting. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Close; intimate; near; familiar. [ Obs. ] “A strait degree of favor.” Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Strict; scrupulous; rigorous. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some certain edicts and some strait decrees. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The straitest sect of our religion. Acts xxvi. 5 (Rev. Ver.). [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Difficult; distressful; straited. [ 1913 Webster ]

To make your strait circumstances yet straiter. Secker. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Parsimonious; niggargly; mean. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I beg cold comfort, and you are so strait,
And so ingrateful, you deny me that. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Strictly; rigorously. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Straitened p. pr. & vb. n. Straitening. ] 1. To make strait; to make narrow; hence, to contract; to confine. [ 1913 Webster ]

Waters, when straitened, as at the falls of bridges, give a roaring noise. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

In narrow circuit, straitened by a foe. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make tense, or tight; to tighten. [ 1913 Webster ]

They straiten at each end the cord. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To restrict; to distress or embarrass in respect of means or conditions of life; -- used chiefly in the past participle; -- as, a man straitened in his circumstances. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Parsimonious; sparing; niggardly. [ R. ] -- Strait"-hand`ed*ness, n. [R.] [1913 Webster]

n. A dress of strong materials for restraining maniacs or those who are violently delirious. It has long sleeves, which are closed at the ends, confining the hands, and may be tied behind the back. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Bound with stays. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let nature have scope to fashion the body as she thinks best; we have few well-shaped that are strait-laced. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Restricted; stiff; constrained. [ R. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Rigid in opinion; strict in manners or morals. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In a strait manner; narrowly; strictly; rigorously. Mark i. 43. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Closely; intimately. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or condition of being strait; especially, a pinched condition or situation caused by poverty; as, the straitnessof their circumstances. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Strait-jacket. [ 1913 Webster ]