narrow

Etymology 1

From Middle English narow, narowe, narewe, narwe, naru, from Old English nearu (“narrow, strait, confined, constricted, not spacious, limited, petty; limited, poor, restricted; oppressive, causing anxiety (of that which restricts free action of body or mind), causing or accompanied by difficulty, hardship, oppressive; oppressed, not having free action; strict, severe”), from Proto-Germanic *narwaz (“constricted, narrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ner- (“to turn, bend, twist, constrict”). Cognate with Scots naro, narow, narrow (“narrow”), North Frisian naar, noar, noor (“narrow”), Saterland Frisian noar (“bleak, dismal, meager, ghastly, unwell”), Saterland Frisian Naarwe (“scar”), West Frisian near (“narrow”), Dutch naar (“dismal, bleak, ill, sick”), Low German naar (“dismal, ghastly”), German Nehrung (“spit, narrow peninsula”), Norwegian norve (“a clip, staple”), Icelandic njörva- (“narrow-”, in compounds).

adj

1. Having a small width; not wide; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.
   a narrow hallway
   She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
   Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess
   Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist
2. Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.
   The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world. 1675, John Wilkins, Of the Principles and Duties of Natural Religion
3. (figurative) Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude.
   a narrow interpretation
4. Contracted; of limited scope; bigoted
   a narrow mind
   narrow views
5. Having a small margin or degree.
   a narrow escape
   The Republicans won by a narrow majority.
   As in their narrow defeat of Argentina last week, England were indisciplined at the breakdown, and if Georgian fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili had remembered his kicking boots, Johnson's side might have been behind at half-time. September 18, 2011, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport
6. (dated) Limited as to means; straitened
   narrow circumstances
7. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.
   a very narrow […]and stinted charity a. 1719, George Smalridge, The Hopes of a Recompense from Men must not be our chief Aim in doing Good
8. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.
9. (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.

noun

1. (chiefly in the plural) 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
   Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerous narrow. 1858, William Gladstone, Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age

Etymology 2

From Middle English narwen (“to narrow”); see there for more details, but ultimately derived from the noun.

verb

1. (transitive) To reduce in width or extent; to contract.
   We need to narrow the search.
2. (intransitive) To get narrower.
   The road narrows.
3. (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.
4. (knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.
5. (transitive, programming) To convert to a data type that cannot hold as many distinct values.
   to narrow an int variable to a short variable